Strong pillar of support for Sino-ASEAN relations

Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who returned from a four-day trip to China on Sunday, said his visit was a "success". The king also expressed amazement at China's rise on the international scene in the last 20 years.

"The country has good examples for us to follow in the effort to restore Malaysia after the last few challenging years," said the king, as quoted in the New Straits Times.

Sultan Ibrahim's visit to China is the first by a Malaysian king in 10 years, marking a significant moment for both nations as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

"The good relationship between Malaysia and China is based on trust and respect which enables close cooperation in almost all sectors," he said. "I hope the government will examine the results of this visit and take appropriate measures in the areas discussed including education, trade, investment as well as transport and connectivity."

China and Malaysia enjoy a time-honored friendship. Over the past 50 years, China and Malaysia have always been on friendly terms and supported each other, setting a fine example of mutual achievements and win-win cooperation among countries.

China is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with Malaysia and enhance strategic communication. And China is ready to better synergize development strategies with Malaysia, carry out high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implement key projects, step up agriculture and poverty reduction cooperation, and further tap the potential of cooperation in new energy, the digital economy and other high-tech industries.

The two sides agreed to support each other on issues involving their respective core interests and major concerns. China supports Malaysia in assuming the rotating presidency of Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year, and is willing to work with Malaysia to promote East Asian cooperation and regional economic integration, and enhance coordination regarding major hotspot and international issues.

With some external forces trying to drive a wedge between China and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the healthy development of Sino-Malaysian relations should serve as a reference to the development of China-ASEAN ties. Since the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership was established in 2021, significant progress has been achieved in advancing the China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

The 21st China-ASEAN Expo is being held in Nanning, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, from Tuesday to Saturday. The two sides should seize the opportunities in a new era defined by the sci-tech revolution and industrial transformation, leverage their complementary advantages, accelerate coordinated development, and jointly foster new quality productive forces in the region, so as to add new strength to the momentum of development and rejuvenation for individual countries in the region, bring forth fresh impetus to regional stability and prosperity, and make new contributions to building an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.