China will maintain good ties with Malaysia, assures vice-minister

China will maintain good ties with Malaysia,

assures vice-minister

BEIJING:China, the world’s most populous country, has given an assurance that it will maintain its good relations with Malaysia and enhance the diplomatic relations established 45 years ago.

Vice-Minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Jiang Jianguo said this is especially so in the sectors of investment, trade and tourism.

“I will not name the exact projects. What I can assure you is that Chinese investments in Malaysia will continue to rise.

“The trade between us will continue to increase and the number of tourists will also continue to go up,” Jiang, speaking through a translator, told Malaysian and Indonesian journalists visiting the Department of Central Publicity here.

Eleven journalists from the two countries are here for a 10-day visit until Feb 28 under the Asean Elites China Tour 2019.

This is at the invitation of the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) to see for themselves the vocational training education centres in Xinjiang province and know more about China’s ethnic and religious policies.

Jiang was responding to a Malaysian journalist’s question on China’s future plans to enhance social and economic relations between the two countries.

Malaysia and China are celebrating 45 years of diplomatic ties this year.

Bilateral trade between Malaysia and China hit an all-new high in 2018,

growing 13% to US$108.6 billion (RM443 billion) from US$96 billion (RM392 billion) in 2017.

The number of Chinese visitors to Malaysia increased by almost 30% to 2.94 million last year.