China, Malaysia agree to oppose unilateral tariffs, foster regional stability after productive talks

Athree-day state visit of President Xi Jinping to Malaysia has resulted in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur agreeing to jointly build a high-level strategic China-Malaysia community with a shared future by enhancing political mutual trust, deepening practical cooperation, and expanding cultural exchanges, as the two countries usher in a new “Golden 50 Years” for bilateral ties.

Xi’s visit to the Southeast Asian country April 15-17 is the second leg of his three-nation tour of the region this week.

In the morning on April 16, Xi met with Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who held a grand welcoming ceremony for the Chinese president.

Xi said he is ready to work with the Malaysian supreme head of state to lead the long-term and stable development of China-Malaysia ties, and write a new chapter in good neighborliness, friendship, solidarity, and cooperation.

China stands ready to promote the Confucian-Islamic civilizational dialogue with Malaysia and carry out further cooperation in culture, tourism, and education to enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Xi added.

He said China supports Malaysia in its role as the ASEAN chair and stands ready to work with Malaysia to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative.

Xi also urged joint efforts to promote the Global South’s pursuit of solidarity-driven collective advancement and common development to contribute more certainty and positive energy to the region and the world.

He said China welcomes more high-quality Malaysian agricultural products to the Chinese market and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Malaysia.

Sultan Ibrahim said Xi’s state visit to Malaysia is a major event in bilateral relations, which fully demonstrates the high level of Malaysia-China relations, adding that his successful visit to China last September is still fresh in his memory.

Sultan Ibrahim said he believes that Xi’s visit will comprehensively upgrade bilateral relations and promote the vigorous development of cooperation in various fields.

He added that China’s impressive development achievements are attributable to Xi’s foresight and the hard work of the Chinese people.

Sultan Ibrahim said Malaysia attaches great importance to its relations with China and will join hands to forge ahead for win-win cooperation and promote the building of a high-level strategic China-Malaysia community with a shared future, no matter how the international landscape evolves.

Malaysia attaches importance to regional economic integration, firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative, and is ready to strengthen trade and investment cooperation with China, he said.

Sultan Ibrahim said both sides will jointly stabilize industrial and supply chains, enhance connectivity, and boost people-to-people and educational exchanges.

He said the Malaysian side speaks highly of China’s recent central conference on work related to neighboring countries and values China’s important role in addressing global and regional challenges.

As the rotating chair of ASEAN and country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, Malaysia is committed to promoting greater development of ASEAN-China ties and jointly building a peaceful and prosperous future, the king added.

During the meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later on April 16, Xi spoke highly of the fruitful results of bilateral ties over the past five decades, saying that the two countries should continue to deliver more benefits to their peoples and make greater contributions to regional prosperity and stability.

As friendly neighbors across the sea, China and Malaysia enjoy a traditional friendship spanning over a thousand years. Since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1974, bilateral trade has expanded nearly a thousand-fold to reach $212 billion last year. China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years and is also a top source of foreign direct investment.

Xi stressed the importance of the two countries upholding strategic autonomy, saying that China and Malaysia should continue to firmly support each other in safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in national security, defense, and law enforcement.

To create a benchmark for high-quality development cooperation, Xi called on the two sides to cultivate and strengthen cooperation in cutting-edge areas such as the digital economy and the green economy, and enhance the integrated development of links related to industrial and supply chains, and flows of data and human talents.

He also urged efforts from both sides to promote the transformation and upgrading of cooperation in traditional sectors, facilitate two-way investment, advance sea-rail intermodal transportation, upgrade the “Two Countries, Twin Parks” model, and build Malaysia’s important ports into key hubs for the new land-sea corridor.

To carry forward the two countries’ enduring friendship, Xi encouraged China and Malaysia to engage in the Confucian-Islamic civilizational dialogue and take the signing of a visa exemption agreement as an opportunity to promote tourism, enhance youth exchanges, and deepen cooperation in culture, education, and other areas.

Xi said that Malaysia’s designation of this year’s theme as “Inclusivity and Sustainability” demonstrates a profound insight into the current situation.

China supports Malaysia in fulfilling its role and is willing to work with countries in the region to sign the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area Upgrade 3.0 Protocol at an early date, he added.

By advocating peace, cooperation, inclusiveness, and integration, Xi said countries in the region can resist decoupling, “small yard, high fences”, and the abuse of tariffs, thus addressing the world’s instability and uncertainty with Asia’s stability and certainty.

In the face of rising unilateralism, Malaysia is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to jointly address risks and challenges, Anwar said, adding that ASEAN will not endorse any unilateral imposition of tariffs and will work together to enhance self-reliance and maintain economic growth through cooperation.

Anwar said his nation lauds China’s positive role in international and regional issues and stands ready to deepen strategic communication with China and consolidate political mutual trust.

Malaysia is willing to expand bilateral trade, and Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest and do business in Malaysia and cooperate with the Malaysian side in developing the digital economy, green economy, artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technology sectors to foster greater development for both nations, he said.

Anwar also said that Malaysia is prepared to promote people-to-people exchanges in areas including culture, education, and tourism to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

He added that the country looks forward to carrying out Confucian-Islamic civilizational dialogue to contribute to the advancement of human civilization.

After the talks, Xi and Anwar jointly witnessed the exchange of more than 30 bilateral cooperation documents, covering cooperation on three major global initiatives, Confucian-Islamic civilizational dialogue, digital economy, trade in services, upgrading the “Two Countries, Twin Parks” program, joint laboratories, AI, railways, intellectual property, export of agricultural products to China, mutual visa exemption, and giant panda conservation, among other areas.

Xu Liping, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Center for Southeast Asian Studies, said the new definition of the China-Malaysia community with a shared future has specified the direction of bilateral relations.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn