Malaysia, China pledge to further enhance bilateral ties

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Tuesday met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Both sides pledged to further enhance bilateral ties.

Hailing the close neighborliness between Malaysia and China, Najib said Malaysia fully supports the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative and the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank that are proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He said Malaysia is willing to work with China to push forward the construction of industrial parks and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to make investments in the country and particularly participate in the development of its manufacturing sector.

Najib also said the Southeast Asian nation hopes to receive more Chinese visitors and would like to maintain close communication and cooperation with China on the search of the missing flight of Malaysia Airlines MH370, and deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.

As the Chair of the ASEAN this year, Malaysia is also willing to play a positive role in boosting China-ASEAN relations, he said.

Wang Yi, who is here for the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting from Aug 4 to 7, said the China-Malaysia relations are in the best period in history, and China appreciates the important contributions made by Prime Minister Najib for the bilateral relations.

The Chinese foreign minister said China highly values the friendship between the two countries, and is willing to work with Malaysia to keep enhancing the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Wang also noted that China would like to partner with Malaysia on the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and boost industrial cooperation with Malaysia with focus on the industrial parks in China's Qinzhou and Malaysia's Kuantan.

He expressed China's willingness to strengthen and expand cooperation with Malaysia in fields of infrastructure, telecommunications, nuclear, aerospace, remote sensing technologies and cultural exchanges.