In a Facebook post, Anwar said Malaysia and China reshaped the landscape of Asian geopolitics by establishing diplomatic relations on May 31, 1974, making Malaysia the first non-socialist country in Southeast Asia to formalise ties with China.
“Despite the apparent reasons for refrain – our ideological chasm, our seemingly irreconcilable differences – our leaders dared to think beyond convention and took a bold leap of faith,” he said.
“This audacious move has blossomed into a rich and fruitful partnership.
“The Madani government is committed to nurturing this vital relationship for the prosperity of our peoples and the entire region.”
He added that he is looking forward to Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s upcoming official visit as the two countries celebrate the “historic milestone” of 50 years of diplomatic ties.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years.
Malaysia’s trade with China stood at RM450.84 billion in 2023, with imports making up RM258.63 billion of the sum.
During a visit to China in April 2023, Anwar said Chinese firms pledged around RM170 billion in investments in Malaysia and signed 19 memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
This was followed by commitments of RM19.84 billion in September 2023.
Creating a future together
In an article commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, China’s ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said China and Malaysia should strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen political mutual trust and align development strategies.
He also called for both countries to actively expand cultural exchanges and explore the potential of further cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy and green development.
Ouyang also noted that the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded fruitful results in Malaysia, referring to the vast collection of development and investment initiatives launched by China since 2013.
Among the BRI projects in Malaysia is the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a 665km RM50.3 billion rail network that connects the east coast and the west coast, namely Kota Bharu in Kelantan to Gombak, Selangor.
It is expected that travel time between these points will drop to four hours from the current duration of seven hours on the road, which could stretch to more than 12 hours during festive seasons.
He also highlighted how the two countries announced mutual visa exemption policies at the end of last year, facilitating personnel exchanges and people-to-people interactions. The average monthly number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia has exceeded 275,000 since the beginning of the year, Ouyang added.
“This has been 50 years of mutual understanding. Cooperation between the two countries in local exchanges, science and education, tourism, and culture has (been strong), forming 18 pairs of sister cities and establishing consulates in Penang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Xi’an, Nanning, Kunming, Guangzhou, and Shanghai,” he said.
“Let us be guided by the important consensus of our leaders and promote a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, creating an even more glorious next 50 years for China-Malaysia relations.”