China ASEAN Business | Thematic Report of the 50th Anniversary of China-Malaysia Diplomatic Relations

Friendly exchanges between Malaysians and Chinese started more than 2,000 years ago. Zheng He, who sojourned in Malacca five times in his seven voyages to the West Oceans, had become a household name in the two countries.

On May 31, 1974, Malaysia and China officially established diplomatic relations, unfolding a new chapter in the development of Malaysia-China relations.

From May 22 to June 1, 2024, Dato’Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Datuk Mohamad bin Alamin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, embarked on his first visit to China after he held office. During the 10-day productive trip in China, Ahmad Zahid met with John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in Hong Kong, visited Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, witnessed the signing ceremony of the MoU on high-tech education in Shanghai, and finally met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing. Nowadays, Malaysia-China ties are at a new starting point and facing new opportunities for development. Undoubtedly, Ahmad Zahid’s visit will reinforce the traditional a friendship and accelerate bilateral cooperation.

A crucial juncture, more fruitful results

On May 29, 2024, Ahmad Zahid met with Li Qiang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. They both believed that the two sides should engage in more cooperation in education (especially vocational education), halal food, and people-to people exchanges.

Since the establishment of MalaysiaChina diplomatic relations, the two countries have respected each other and treated each other as equals, committed to developing friendly relations based on their fundamental and long-term interests, Li said. As this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties between the two countries, he also expressed China’s willingness to work together with Malaysia for the building of a Malaysia-China community with a shared future, the welfare of the two peoples, and regional prosperity and stability.

During the day’s talks, the two sides indicated their willingness to enhance cooperation in various fields. Li noted that China will further synergize development strategies with Malaysia, expedite key projects of the Belt and Road cooperation, tap into the potential for cooperation in emerging fields, including digital economy and new energy vehicles, and expand trade volume to advance closer cooperation for win-win results. He called on the two sides to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on education , culture, youth, and other people-to people areas, upholding that common progress should be achieved with mutual learning between civilizations. Moreover, China is willing to enhance multilateral coordination with Malaysia in order to safeguard the right direction of cooperation and thehard-won favorable environment for development in East Asia, Li stressed.

“Malaysia stands ready to hold celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations with China. We should jointly improve cooperation on economy, trade, investment, vocational education, and sustainable development, promote people-to-people exchanges, and thus advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between Malaysia and China,” said Ahmad Zahid. Malaysia firmly adheres to the One-China Principle and condemns all forms of “Sinophobia”, he also emphasized, noting that Malaysia-China relations are not interfered with or influenced by any external forces. Meanwhile, Malaysia is committed to facilitating negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and any attempts by external forces to stir up trouble in the South China Sea will not succeed. Malaysia is willing to work together with China to further deepen coordination on regional and international affairs.

Judging from the itinerary, the focus of Malaysia-China cooperation is placed on trade, investment, science and technology, and tourism.

During Ahmad Zahid’s visit to China, Malaysia and Hong Kong (China) reached a consensus on technical and vocational education and training (TVET), as well as economic cooperation, such as establishing the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Malaysia, according to Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama). “I believe that this efort will beneft Malaysia quite a lot, especially in boosting business and investment.” Ahmad Zahid expressed his wish in a social media post.

On May 24, 2024, Universiti Kuala Lumpur and Huawei Technologies signed a MoU related to technology transfer of disaster response. Ahmad Zahid visited Huawei’s headquarters and communicated with higher-ups of the company in that day’s afternoon, emphasizing that the development of Malaysia’s TVET should be oriented towards science and technology. He also revealed that Huawei will set up a new administration center in Malaysia, which will create about 6,000 new jobs.

Moreover, Ahmad Zahid urged related organizations to short-circuit and speed up approval procedures for business and foreign investment access, especially the application of Chinese investment. From his point of view, this move is to galvanize China, Malaysia’s largest business and trading partner, into expanding its business and investment in Malaysia.

Nurture the tree of a Malaysia-China community with a shared future

This official visit is one of the high-level exchange visits to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations, which demonstrates that the bilateral ties have reached a new height. High-level visits and exchanges have been facilitated since the two countries established diplomatic ties. In 1999, a joint statement on the framework of future bilateral cooperation was issued. In 2004, leaders of the two countries reached a consensus about the development of Malaysia-China strategic cooperation. In 2013, the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides was established. In 2023, the two countries jointly announced the building of a Malaysia-China community with a shared future.

“The two sides reached a consensus on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, which will surely open a new chapter in the history of bilateral relations,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping during his meeting with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on March 31, 2023.

Xi stressed, “China is ready to work with Malaysia to strengthen intercourse between the governments, legislative bodies, and parties and scale up the exchange of experience gained in governing the country. The two sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, be mindful of each other’s concerns, and reinforce traditional friendship based on mutual respect and trust. We should firmly support each other in safeguarding sovereignty, security, and development interests and in exploring the path of development in line with each other’s realities. China’s relentless pursuit of highstandard opening up and Chinese modernization will bring new opportunities for the development of Malaysia and other countries. In this context, the two sides should continue to raise the level of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, advance key projects, foster growth areas in the digital economy, green development, and new energy, and explore cooperation on people’s livelihoods so that China-Malaysia relations will bring more benefits to the two peoples.”

“Malaysia and China are friends sharing weal and woe together. Malaysians of all walks of life are committed to strengthening friendship with China. The Unity Government takes further developing friendly relations with China as its priority task,” Anwar once pointed out during his meeting with Li Qiang. At the 2024 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, with one accord, leaders of the two countries both called on the two sides to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to jointly respond to risks and challenges and thus bring more certainty to the world’s peace and development.

Over the past five decades, Malaysia-China relations have achieved significant progress and withstood the changes of the international and domestic landscape and the shock wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a Malaysian saying goes, “Ringan sama dijinjing, berat sama dipikul (sharing weal and woe together).” With mutual trust, Malaysia and China have become each other’s good neighbors, good friends, and good partners.

50-year diplomatic relations , new expectations

Malaysia-China relations have been reinforced over the past 50 years. The two sides have positive expectations of the development of bilateral ties in the future.

“Malaysia-China cooperation demonstrates the strong resilience of our bilateral ties and has promoted longlasting mutual benefit. The development of our relations is in line with the philosophy of building a community with a shared future for mankind,” said Dato’ Norman Muhamad, Malaysia’s Ambassador to China, at the Malaysia-China Summit 2024. Currently, the two countries have reached a crucial juncture for development, he noted, calling on the two sides to seize opportunities to address uncertainties of the world. At the Malaysia-China Commemorative Forum held in May 2024, Ouyang Yujing, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, pointed out that both sides should further promote the complementary of each other’s development strategies, facilitate the synergy between the philosophies of building a community with a shared future for mankind and “Malaysia Madani”, expedite high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen regional cooperation for a closer ASEAN-China community with a shared future.

Before visiting China, Ahmad Zahid once mentioned that Malaysia, as the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations and annually-rotating ASEAN chair for 2025, is willing to intensify coordination with China to properly manage issues related to the South China Sea and advance ASEAN-China relations. Meanwhile, Malaysia is highly identified with the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi and stands ready to step up coordination on international and regional issues, such as in the Middle East.

Recently, a comment written by Lee Heng Guie, Executive Director of the Socio-Economic Research Centre of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia, was published in Malaysia’s Sin Chew Daily. According to the comment, it is expected that Malaysia and China will unlock new potential for cooperation in emerging fields including new energy and the digital economy. Meanwhile, it is hoped that Malaysia can promote exchanges and cooperation in scientific research, education, and culture with China, so as to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, especially teenagers of the two countries.

Malaysia and China jointly established diplomatic relations 50 years ago, unfolding a new chapter in friendly bilateral cooperation. Though half a century went by, the bilateral ties remain close and areas of cooperation continue to expand. Ahmad Zahid’s visit will help strengthen mutual trust between the two countries, lend color to the new blueprint of bilateral cooperation, and contribute to regional and global peace, stability, development, and prosperity.

來源：《中國東盟商界》雜志

文：黃利霞

翻譯：陳翊嘉

審定：林 涵