Malaysian PM hails ties with China, calls for stronger ASEAN cooperation

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has praised the enduring strategic cooperation between Malaysia and China, emphasizing the importance of free trade and enhanced ASEAN cooperation in the face of global trade headwinds.

Ibrahim reflected on the 50 years of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China, in an interview on Monday in Kuala Lumpur ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing visit to the country. Xi arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday to begin a state visit, the second stop of his current five-day, three-nation Southeast Asia tour which started in Vietnam and will later conclude in Cambodia.

Ibrahim highlighted several cooperation areas and future prospects when asked about the most outstanding achievement in China-Malaysia cooperation.

"This mode goes beyond the 50 years since our formal diplomatic ties. In fact, our friendly exchanges dated back much further, with a history of hundreds of years. As you all know, over the past two years, we have been working to enhance our foreign relations. First, by strengthening trade and investment cooperation among ASEAN countries. Then with our neighboring countries, including Japan and South Korea. But our ties with China are even closer, because China has always shown stronger willingness and sincerity in cooperation. We have seen growth in bilateral investment and trade volume. There has also been increased collaboration between universities, and more opportunities in TVET (Technical, Vocational Education and Training)," he said.

"Moreover, cultural exchanges and tourism have also seen obvious improvement. Progress in all these areas has greatly benefited us. It has improved our infrastructure and driven the development of sectors like catering and hospitality. Especially in technology and industrial sectors, we have witnessed the rise of major projects, such as the 'Two Countries, Twin Parks' initiative and technological cooperation projects like the one between Geely and Proton. The size and depth of these major projects far exceed what we have seen in the past," he added.

Addressing the challenges and opportunities in global trade, Ibrahim, who is also the ASEAN Chair, shared his views on leveraging regional strengths.

"There is no denying that tariffs have had a negative impact. As a trading nation, Malaysia has always believed in free trade. When tariff disputes happen, whatever the reason might be, it's going to hurt us. We must stay rational. At the ASEAN Trade Ministers' and Finance Ministers' meetings last week, we stressed that we should seek opportunities from our own strength. Instead of blaming someone else for a problem they created. We can further strengthen intra-Asian trade and investment cooperation, including cooperation with friendly countries such as China," he said.

"ASEAN countries also have great growth potential. Of course, we will not suspend consultations and negotiations with the United States. And we hope that trade will be back on the right track. About our relationship with China, as neighboring countries, China and Malaysia enjoy smooth and trouble-free relations. China's economic development can bring benefits to Malaysia. So I'm taking a pragmatic position. As long as the other country treats us with kindness, we should respond with even greater kindness," said Ibrahim.

Malaysian PM hails ties with China, calls for stronger ASEAN cooperation

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will work with relevant departments and local authorities to take concrete steps to promote the implementation of the newly passed private sector promotion law, a landmark legislation concerning a vast economic force in the country, said an NDRC official.

China's top legislative body -the National People's Congress - passed the private sector promotion law on Wednesday, establishing a legal backing for the steady and healthy growth of the key sector, including more than 57 million private firms and over 100 million self-employed individuals.

This landmark law is China's first fundamental legislation dedicated to the private sector. It will bolster confidence among the vast community by improving the business environment, fostering innovation, and ensuring fair competition, according to NDRC, the country's top economic planner.

"The private sector promotion law has actively responded to the key concerns in the development of the private sector. Efforts are made to establish and improve relevant systems and enhance the enforceability of the systems, from ensuring fair competition, improving investment and financing environment, supporting technology innovation, focusing on regulated operation, optimizing services and guarantees, and improving rights and interest protection, to strengthening legal accountability, so as to ensure that all forms of ownership can equally utilize production factors by the law, participate in market competition fairly, receive equal legal protection, further unleash their complementary advantages, and pursue common development," said Liu Min, deputy director of Private Sector Development Bureau under NDRC.

Liu added NDRC will continue to work together with relevant departments and local authorities to improve supporting systems and mechanisms and take concrete steps to promote the implementation of the private sector promotion law.

"We will make continuous and increasing efforts to remove barriers to market access and to fair competition, to address the issue of overdue payments to private enterprises, to protect the lawful rights and interests of private businesses and entrepreneurs by the law, to implement various relief policies, to help private enterprises shoulder their responsibilities of the era, so as to help translate legal systems into concrete actions and tangible outcomes that promote the high-quality development of the private sector," said Liu.

Concrete steps to take for firmly implementing China's landmark private sector promotion law: official