Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed that they will also discuss extending the visa-free exemption period’s end date, from Dec 31, 2025, to Dec 31, 2026.
He said these matters were expected to be raised in Zahid’s meeting with China’s state councillor and public security minister Wang Xiaohong at the closed session of the 2024 Conference of the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum (Lianyungang) here tomorrow.
“We hope China will reciprocate our stance to offer Chinese citizens a 30-day visa-free stay to boost the tourism industry.
“Currently, China gives us (Malaysian tourists) only 15 days without a visa.
“In the closed discussion tomorrow, we will raise the matter again. At the official-level discussions, China has shown a positive reaction, but it has not yet made a decision.
“The positive aspect is their readiness to engage in discussions,” he said at a session with the Malaysian media here today.
Zahid’s visit to China, from today until Sept 12, comes at the joint invitation of forum chairman Tsang Wai-Hung and China Association for Friendship president Chen Zinmin.
During Chinese prime minister Li Qiang’s official visit to Malaysia in June, it was reported that China had agreed to extend the visa exemption for Malaysians until the end of 2025.
Malaysia reciprocated by extending the same facility to Chinese citizens until the end of 2026.
These efforts reflect the two countries’ commitment for further fostering and strengthening Malaysia-China ties.
Additionally, Saifuddin highlighted that Malaysia will focus on cross-border crime issues, such as human trafficking and cybercrime, at the forum. He said these new challenges require joint efforts and collaboration between countries.
“For Malaysia and China, addressing cross-border crime includes various elements, particularly enhancing the cooperation and capacity of law enforcement agencies and sharing intelligence information related to cross-border criminal activities.
“This cooperation needs to succeed, particularly in sharing information on drug activities, or crimes such as cybercrime and financial scams. Both countries must be committed to exchanging this information.”
Malaysia and China had previously extended an agreement on cooperation to combat cross-border crime, which will remain in effect until 2034.
This extension was formalised during the Fifth Meeting of the Malaysia-People’s Republic of China Joint Working Group on Combating Cross-Border Crime, in Beijing, held in June.
Saifuddin said, at a recent conference in Laos, the Asean secretary-general highlighted the growing global trend of cross-border crime over the past two years, with losses estimated at US$1.02 trillion.
At the same time, Saifuddin shared that initial discussions have begun with the National Security Council (MKN), to develop a priority list of national security and crime threats, aiming to focus efforts on resolving these issues more effectively.
“Each country has its own list of priority crime threats. For example, in China, the focus is on financial scams. Malaysia should also have a similar list, which will make it easier to strengthen cooperation with countries which share such priorities,” he said.
At the Asean level, he noted that two elements – piracy at sea and international economic crime – were removed from the bloc’s security and crime priorities. However, online fraud had been added to the list.