GE14 | China has urged newly-minted prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his new federal administration to uphold the bilateral agreements inked between the two countries prior to Pakatan Harapan's historic general election win on Wednesday.

In his regular press conference in Beijing yesterday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that at present, the strategic partnership between the two nations was fruitful and these bilateral agreements were "worth cherishing and upholding by two sides".

"China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors. China values its friendly relations with Malaysia.

"Currently, the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership enjoys a sound momentum of growth with fruitful outcomes in mutually beneficial cooperation, which has delivered tangible benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

"This is worth cherishing and upholding by our two sides," he said when questioned on Mahathir's statement yesterday that the new administration may seek to renegotiate some terms of agreements it has with China.

Geng said China believed that Malaysia will maintain stability and development.

"We stand ready to work with the Malaysian side to follow the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit to move forward the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership, deliver greater benefits to the two peoples and promote regional stability and prosperity," he added.

To a question if Mahathir's presence as head of the new government would affect China-Malaysia relationship in view of the numerous comments made by the 92-year-old on China had during his prior 22-year tenure as prime minister, Geng would only say that Mahathir himself had contributed to bilateral relations during his rule.

He said: "China values its friendly relations with Malaysia... I want to say that Mahathir is a senior politician and he made important contributions to the development of China-Malaysia relations."

Harapan leaders and economists have on mumerous occasion questioned the need and viability of the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) - the most ambitious and expensive public infrastructure project ever – which is funded with soft loans from China.

ECRL contractor, the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is fully-owned by the Chinese government.

They had promised to review the ECRL project, among other mega projects undertaken by the Najib Abdul Razak-administration.

Once completed in 2024, the ECRL will link Tumpat with Kuantan and Port Klang.

To this, Najib had previously warned of reciprocal reaction from China, saying the latter would likely respond by barring its tourists from Malaysia and cease importing Malaysian palm oil should Malaysia cancel the ECRL project.

Mahathir had also repeatedly spoken out against the Forest City development project, claiming that it would lead to foreign ownership of Malaysian land and an influx of property buyers from mainland China.

During a press conference prior to his swearing in as Malaysia's seventh prime minister yesterday (picture), Mahathir stated that his government will look into treaties and terms of agreements made by his predecessor.

He also, however, said he had no problem with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"(However), we would not like to see too many warships in this area, because a warship attracts other warships," he was quoted by Reuter as saying.

Malaysia was the fourth-largest recipient of China's overseas direct investment in 2017.