NANNING, Sept 16 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang in conjunction with his visit to Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, tomorrow.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, will undertake a working visit to Nanning here tomorrow to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), 2023 at the invitation of Li.
Malaysia’s Consul General in Nanning Ahmad Phadil Ismail said both Premiers will meet for the second time this year after Anwar’s maiden visit to China in March this year.
“The bilateral meeting will enable the two prime ministers to follow up on their last discussions,” he told Malaysian reporters here today.
Ahmad Phadil added that Anwar will also have an engagement with Chinese corporate giants here following the meeting with Li.
In March this year, Anwar made his first visit to China, where he visited Beijing and Hainan after taking office last November and saw Malaysia secured a record RM170 billion worth of investment commitments from the world’s second largest economy.
Ahmad Phadil said during his jam-packed one-day working visit to Nanning, Anwar also is scheduled to speak at the opening ceremony of the CAEXPO and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS), alongside Li and other ASEAN leaders including those from Laos and Vietnam.
The Prime Minister will also be officiating the “Malaysian Pavilion” at CAEXPO.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry in a separate statement here said during the bilateral meeting, both leaders will discuss the state of Malaysia-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Following that, Li will also host a luncheon in honour of the Prime Minister.
CAEXPO is one of the biggest international exhibitions co-organised by China and ASEAN, which serves as a crucial platform for businessmen and enterprises from the ASEAN region and China to explore business synergies and promote their products within the world’s largest free trade area.
Malaysia has been participating in this Expo since its inception in 2004, said the statement.
According to the statement, a total of 107 Malaysian companies will participate in the Expo under the Malaysian pavilion, coordinated by the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).
During the visit, the Prime Minister will be accompanied by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Datuk Mohamad Alamin who is representing Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Local Government Development Nga Kor Ming; Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Chan Foong Hin, as well as senior government officials.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009 and in 2022 the value of trade between Malaysia and China was about 17.1 per cent of Malaysia’s total global trade worth RM2.8 trillion.
The total trade between the two countries in 2022 was RM487.13 billion, which was an increase of 15.6 per cent compared to the previous year.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Malaysia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the two countries will also celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year.
