Malaysia would be lagging behind without development brought by local Chinese, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"The Chinese not only occupy China. You go anywhere in the world, you will see Chinese faces.

"They have contributed much to the development of many countries and have become citizens in these countries," he said when delivering the special keynote address at the World Chinese Economic Forum today.

"We have 30 percent of the population of Chinese origin and there is no doubt that much of the development of Malaysia is due to the Chinese," he said.

"Malaysia fully appreciates the Chinese contribution to the development of Malaysia. Indeed, we feel that without them, much of the development of Malaysia would be somewhat lagging behind," he added.

He said the Chinese nationals who migrated to other countries would do the same to the countries they settled down in.

"Somehow, they have a knack for creating wealth wherever they go. They are business-oriented people as they know how to deal with business and money.

"We all know that it is the business people who are good at creating the wealth of the country while the government is good at collecting. Without the business people creating the wealth, the government would have no wealth," he added.

Elaborating further, he said: "We are fortunate that the Chinese are peaceful people that contributed to the world wherever they are".

It is challenging to rule a multiracial country, he said, but Malaysia is stable and the Chinese, together with Malays, Indians and 29 ethnic tribes work together in every field, including the political arena.

"It was (due to) the collaboration (among the races and ethnic tribes) that we were able to turn around the country," added the Pakatan Harapan chairperson.

"Today, we live by the rule of law and show sensitivity to each race and religion," he said.