A total of 14 memorandums of understanding, agreements, protocol and joint statements involving nine ministries have been exchanged between Malaysia and China today, witnessed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and China premier Li Qiang.

The documents were exchanged during Li’s official visit to Malaysia, which also marked his first visit to the country as premier, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.

Li (above, left) is here for a three-day official visit beginning Tuesday.

The nine ministries are investment, trade and industry; finance; agriculture and food security; housing and local government; home; science, technology and innovation; higher education; tourism, arts and culture; and communications.

On behalf of the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry, two MOUs were exchanged to strengthen investment cooperation in the digital economy and promote investment cooperation in green development.

Besides the MOUs, Malaysia and China also inked the second cycle of the Malaysia-China five-year programme for economic and trade cooperation to deepen further linkages between industries in priority sectors like high-level manufacturing and digital economy.

The programme would also deepen cooperation in robotics, entrepreneur development, innovation and startup, as well as research and development in agriculture and primary industries.

For the Communications Ministry, two MOUs were exchanged. The first is with the China Media Group on media cooperation, while the second is to strengthen cooperation in the postal field between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the China State Postal Bureau.

Under the Finance Ministry, the document exchanged was a joint statement on a national single window for cross-border trade initiative, while under the Higher Education Ministry, the MOU was on cooperation in the field of higher education.

Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry signed an MOU on a people-to-people exchange programme.

As for the Housing and Local Government Ministry, it was for the fields of housing and urban development.

Other agenda

Earlier, both leaders had a closed-door meeting to discuss bilateral relations between Malaysia and China and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Next, Anwar will host a luncheon for Li and his Chinese delegation before departing to the Shangri-la Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Li will also have an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar today.

Anwar and Li would also attend the East Coast Rail Link groundbreaking ceremony in Gombak and conclude their schedule today with a dinner celebration for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years since 2009. Last year, total trade with China was valued at RM450.84 billion (US$98.80 billion), contributing to 17.1 percent of Malaysia’s global trade.

To recap, the diplomatic relations between the two nations were established by the Joint Communiqué signed by former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein and Chinese premier Chou En Lai on May 31, 1974.

- Bernama

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