Mutually beneficial ties with Malaysia to be cemented

President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China is committed to working with Malaysia and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to combat the undercurrents of geopolitical and camp-based confrontation as well as the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism, in order to promote the building of a community with a shared future.

Xi made the remarks in a signed article titled "May the Ship of China-Malaysia Friendship Sail Toward an Even Brighter Future", which was published by Malaysian media, including the leading English newspaper The Star, as he started his state visit to the Southeast Asian nation on Tuesday afternoon.

In the article, Xi hailed the sound development of China-Malaysia ties and China-ASEAN cooperation, and reiterated the country's commitment to promoting global peace, development and shared prosperity with other countries through mutually beneficial cooperation.

He said that China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors across the sea, and the maritime Silk Road has been witness to the millennium-old friendly exchanges between the two countries. They have set an exemplary model for two countries to prosper together through mutually beneficial cooperation, he added.

"As a community with a shared future, China and Malaysia share the smooth times and the rough, stand united in peace and crisis, and thrive and endure together," Xi said.

He called on both countries to work together to give fresh momentum to the "ship of friendship" that has sailed through the long river of history, and ensure that it forges ahead steadily toward brighter horizons.

"We must expand results-oriented cooperation which serves as the ballast that steadies our ship of friendship," Xi said.

In 2024, China-Malaysia trade reached $212 billion. China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years. The countries have mutual visa-exemption policies.

Xi called for advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries and strengthening partnership on industrial and supply chains, with a focus on the digital economy, green economy, blue economy and tourism economy.

He underlined the need for both countries to uphold the multilateral trading system, keep global industrial and supply chains stable, and maintain an international environment of openness and cooperation.

On China-ASEAN cooperation, Xi said that having weathered storms of the times, the friendly relations and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries have emerged stronger and more resilient. "China-ASEAN cooperation is the most results-oriented and productive in the region," he said.

In 2024, China-ASEAN trade exceeded $980 billion, making the two sides each other's largest trading partner for five consecutive years. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Negotiations have concluded.

"China firmly supports ASEAN unity and community-building, and supports ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture," Xi said. "China fully supports Malaysia in its role as the ASEAN Chair for 2025 and looks forward to Malaysia serving as a stronger bridge between the two sides as the Country Coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations."

In the article, Xi also talked about China's economic growth, saying that the Chinese economy is built on a solid foundation, with multiple strengths, high resilience and vast potential for growth.

"The core conditions supporting its long-term positive growth remain firmly in place, with the underlying upward trend unchanged," he said.

Noting that China has set its target for economic growth at around 5 percent for 2025, Xi said the country will continue to pursue high-quality development and expand high-standard opening-up to share development opportunities with other countries and bring greater stability and certainty to the regional and global economy.

In a written statement delivered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Tuesday, Xi said he will take his three-day state visit as an opportunity to further deepen the traditional friendship between the two countries, enhance their political mutual trust and promote cooperation on modernization efforts to take the China-Malaysia community with a shared future to a new level, ushering in a new "Golden 50 Years" for bilateral ties.