May 31st, 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and Malaysia establishing diplomatic ties. Despite differences in political structure and social settings, the two countries have made their relations a big success based on genuine mutual trust and ready assistance to each other, whose model has been recognized as an exemplary one for both country-to-country relations and inter-civilizational interactions.
Going back fifty years, Beijing was in its early summer. Joyful spirits were everywhere. Brightly-coloured “Five-Starred Red Flag”s and “the Stripes of Glory”s briskly fluttered in main streets and huge banners with “Long live China-Malaysia friendship!” floated high on tall buildings. Tun Abdul Razak Datuk Hussein, Prime Minister of Malaysia was making his ice-breaking visit to China. Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai warmly received Prime Minister Razak in Beijing. Premier Zhou Enlai emotionally said, “Your Excellency, you are here finally! I have been expecting your visit for long.” May 31, 1974 is the day to be remembered by history. It is on this day that Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Malaysian Prime Minister Razak signed the Joint Communiqué on behalf of their governments, enabling Malaysia the first ASEAN founding member to establish diplomatic relations with China, ushering a new era into the history of China-Malaysia relations and a new chapter in China-ASEAN relations.
Time has changed many things, yet it does not change the good will and commitments China and Malaysia have had to the other. With genuine respect and trust to each other, and always ready to help in times of needs and difficulty, China and Malaysia have had an extraordinary diplomatic journey together. All these years, the China-Malaysia relations are at the forefront of China’s relations with ASEAN countries.
The past 50 years have seen China and Malaysia reinforcing mutual trust and assistance. Bilaterally, high-level exchanges have become increasingly frequent, which provide a solid foundation for expanding and deepening institutional cooperation in governmental organizations, legislative branches and political parties. Internationally, China and Malaysia have always been each others’ firm support on issues of the other’s core interests and major concerns. Both firmly support the other in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development rights, and the autonomy of choosing its own development path. President Xi Jinping made his historic visit to Malaysia in 2013, which resulted in the elevation of China-Malaysia relations to comprehensive strategic partnership. Last year, Prime Minister Anwar visited China twice and reached an important consensus with President Xi Jinping on jointly building the China-Malaysia community with a shared future, drawing the blueprint for China-Malaysia relations in the new era.
The past 50 years have seen China and Malaysia harvesting achievements in various fields. Bilateral trade volume has grown from less than $200 million in 1974 to $190.24 billion in 2023, seeing an increase of 950 times. Economic cooperation is a good win-win one. China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years and Malaysia has long been China’s second largest ASEAN-country trading partner. Besides, China is Malaysia’s long-standing major investor and Malaysia is China’s largest ASEAN-country import source. The first quarter of this year saw bilateral trade achieving $47.08 billion and non-financial direct investment $723 million, rising 6.5% and 116% respectively year-on-year. Both countries are now enjoying the sweet fruits of high-quality co-construction of “Belt and Road” projects. Flagship projects such as the “Two Countries, Twin Parks” and the “East Coast Rail Link” (ECRL) have brought tangible benefits to both peoples. While speeding up developing its new quality productive forces, China is also deepening cooperation with Malaysia in digital economy, green development and other emerging industries by supporting the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and other economic revitalization measures. The well-timed synergy of Chinese modernization and “Malaysia Madani” has injected new momentum into the two countries’ pursuit of common development and shared prosperity, which has also contributed significantly to global economic recovery.
The past 50 years have seen China and Malaysia tightening people-to-people bond. Exchanges are extensively conducted in various fields including but not limited to local affairs, science and education, tourism, culture, etc. We are happy to see eighteen pairs of sister cities formed and eight consulate-generals set up, which are respectively based in Penang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Xi’an, Nanning, Kunming, Guangzhou and Shanghai. University exchanges also played an active role. Beijing Foreign Studies University set up its “Center for China-Malay Studies” in Beijing and Xiamen University opened its first overseas campus in Malaysia. Seven Confucius Institutes and one Confucius Classroom are running well in Malaysia. Back to 2019 when the world was intact from COVID-19, total cross-border visits between China and Malaysia amounted to 3,795,800 and China remained to be Malaysia’s largest non-ASEAN tourist source for seven consecutive years. The end of last year saw implementation of mutual visa-free policy which has greatly facilitated people’s exchanges. As a result, this year’s average monthly Chinese tourist visits to Malaysia have outnumbered 275,000. Last year, the “Islam-Confucianism Leadership Dialogue” was successfully held in Kuala Lumpur which is another good case to show how peoples of different civilizations can benefit from mutual appreciation and learning.
Prime Minister Razak used to say, “The Malaysia-China relationship is a small tree just having been cultivated, and it is our common task to ensure its healthy and strong growth.” Now, half a century passed, the small sapling has grown into a towering tree. In a world full of uncertainties and unpredicabilities, China and Malaysia should strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen political mutual trust and enhance synergy of development and strategic cooperation. Besides continued cooperation in traditional areas, we should cooperate further in emerging industries such as digital economy and green development to fully unleash their potentials. We should also expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges to ensure the China-Malaysia friendship tree be deeply rooted and forever flourish!
One Chinese poet used to say with great confidence in his poem, “Someday, with my sail piercing the clouds, I will mount the wind, break the waves and traverse the vast rolling sea.” Standing at this new historical starting-point, under the guidance of leaders of both countries, we are no lack of confidence as that of the great poet. Let’s work closely together to implement our leaders’ consensus on building the China-Malaysia community with a shared future to the best of our abilities. Jointly, we will make the next 50 years another glory in China-Malaysia relations.
H.E. Ouyang Yujing
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Malaysia
