International Observation: China Malaysia Economic and Trade Cooperation Helps China ASEAN Win Win Cooperation

On September 24th, the 21st China ASEAN Expo and China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (hereinafter referred to as the "East Expo") kicked off in Nanning, Guangxi. This year's East Expo and summit will be hosted by Malaysia as the theme country. Chinese and Malaysian experts interviewed by People's Daily Online stated that in recent years, China Malaysia economic and trade cooperation has yielded fruitful results, with enormous potential for bilateral cooperation, gathering momentum for building a closer China ASEAN community with a shared future.

Promote their respective modernization processes

China and Malaysia face each other across the sea, and the friendship between the two countries has a long history. Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, with high sails and starry skies day and night, and stationed in Malacca five times, which is well-known in Malaysia. In the past, neighboring countries were separated by misty clouds. Now, the two countries are working together to promote the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Malaysia to a new level.

China and Malaysia are both important members of the Asia Pacific region, developing countries, and emerging market economies, with broad common interests in economic development and trade cooperation. Xu Liping, a researcher at the Asia Pacific and Global Strategy Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Southeast Asian Studies Center, stated in an interview with People's Daily that economic and trade cooperation has taken the lead in various fields of cooperation between China and Malaysia.

Malaysia is China's second largest trading partner and the largest source of imports in ASEAN. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Malaysia exceeded 200 billion US dollars for the first time. As of 2023, China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years and a major source of investment for Malaysia for several consecutive years.

Yan Tianlu, Vice President of the Malaysian Chinese Public Relations Association and Chairman of the Working Committee of the Malacca Historic District (Jichang Street), said that in Malacca, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative has brought tangible results to bilateral economic and trade cooperation between Malaysia and China.

Yan Tianlu said that since the establishment of friendly relations between the historic city area of Malacca (Chicken Farm Street) and several famous historical and cultural districts in China, they have worked together multiple times to carry out cultural exchanges and showcase characteristic products. This not only injects momentum into the promotion of people to people exchanges between the two countries, but also drives the development of local tourism industry and promotes mutually beneficial economic cooperation.

Deepen China ASEAN cooperation for win-win outcomes

On September 23rd, as an important part of this year's East Expo and summit, the 2024 China ASEAN Industrial Cooperation and "Two Countries, Two Parks" Project Sharing Roundtable was held in Nanning.

In February 2013, the Malaysia China Kuantan Industrial Park was officially opened, together with the China Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, creating the "Two Countries, Two Parks" model. Over the years, the "Two Countries, Two Parks" cooperation between China and Malaysia has steadily advanced, and the Qinzhou Industrial Park between China and Malaysia has gradually formed an industrial cluster for processing and trading ASEAN characteristic products such as biomedicine, electronic information, new energy materials, and bird's nest, durian, palm oil, etc. According to statistical data, as of April 2024, there were 249 signed projects in the Qinzhou Industrial Park between China and Malaysia, with a total industrial output value of 93.8 billion yuan; The Ma Zhong Guan Dan Industrial Park has signed 13 projects with a cumulative industrial output value exceeding 60 billion yuan.

Xu Liping pointed out that China and Malaysia are actively exploring the "dual park" cooperation, creating a precedent for China and ASEAN countries to establish national level industrial parks with each other, laying the foundation for China to expand related industrial cooperation with neighboring countries, and playing an important role in promoting regional economic integration.


Explore the potential for high-quality growth in the region

From the "Golden Decade" to the "Diamond Decade", and now opening a new chapter of "crown set with diamonds", the East Asian Expo and summit witness the upgrading of economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN countries. China has remained the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 15 consecutive years, and ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for 4 consecutive years. As of July this year, the cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN countries has exceeded 400 billion US dollars.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia and the 'China Malaysia Friendship Year'. As the rotating chair of ASEAN next year and the coordinator of ASEAN China relations, Malaysia will play an important role in promoting the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and China, and building the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version.

When it comes to the key areas of future economic and trade cooperation between China and Malaysia, Xu Liping believes that both sides have advantages in strengthening cooperation in agriculture and poverty reduction. He suggests that the two countries further expand cooperation areas and cultivate new growth points in industries such as new energy, transportation, and marine economy.

Yan Tianlu highly praised the achievements of China's green economy development. He believes that Malaysia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with relatively high demand for automobiles, and the cooperation between Malaysia and China in green industries can drive the development of Malaysia's green economy, making new contributions as a developing country to alleviate global climate change and energy crisis.

Yan Tianlu said that he expected the two countries to carry out practical cooperation in economic and trade fields in the future, promote people to people ties between the two countries, and release more cooperation dividends for the two peoples.