China’s ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said amid increasing global economic vulnerability and escalating geopolitical tensions, China-Malaysia trade and investments have bucked the trend and achieved new growth.
He said China’s official statistics showed that from January to November 2022, China-Malaysia bilateral trade had increased 18.5% on a year-on-year basis, reaching US$184.75 billion (RM813.5 billion).
China is expected to be Malaysia’s largest trading partner for the 14th consecutive year.
According to Malaysia’s official statistics, China’s investment ranked top in the first half of 2022, reaching US$11 billion, accounting for 55.6% of the total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia, making the world’s second largest economy Malaysia’s most important development partner.
“China-Malaysia relations have been at the forefront of China-Asean relations.
“China will continue to encourage more Chinese enterprises to increase investments in Malaysia to further boost Malaysia’s economic development and industrial upgrading,” Ouyang said at the “Ambassador Talk” programme, jointly organised by the Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) and the Chinese embassy here today.
Ouyang said that from his frequent engagement with Chinese entrepreneurs here, he was optimistic this trend will continue to grow.
“They told me they chose Malaysia because of the country’s stable political environment, strategic geopolitical location, modern and well-connected infrastructure and good legal system.
“Good people-to-people relations between the people of our countries is also one of the factors that attracts Chinese investors to Malaysia.”
He said moving forward, China and Malaysia can further extend cooperation in the development of electric vehicles, semiconductors and chips as well as oil and gas industries.
“China stands ready to work with Malaysia to make good use of these development opportunities.
“We will strengthen economic cooperation, accelerate science and technological innovation, and deepen cooperation in all aspects, including interconnectivity, digital economy, green economy, modern agriculture and biomedicine.
“We will work together to bring more benefits to the peoples of both countries and contribute more to regional peace and prosperity,” he said.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of China-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and 2024 will be the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Malaysia diplomatic relations.
As such, the Chinese ambassador proposed that both countries work out a blueprint for future China-Malaysia cooperation.
He said both countries should further strengthen cooperation between governments, political parties, social organisations and work together in all fields.