Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing
KUALA LUMPUR: China is likely to retain its position as Malaysia’s largest trading partner for the 17th consecutive year, with cumulative investment in the country surpassing US$20.8 billion (US$1=RM4.07), said China’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Ouyang Yujing.
"With the China-Malaysia visa exemption agreement taking effect on July 17, 2025, allowing visa-free entry for passport holders of both countries, the first 10 months of 2025 have seen over four million Chinese visitors to Malaysia,” he said in his opening address at the "New Blueprint, New Horizons: Briefing on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan” here today.
Ouyang emphasised that there should be better alignment between the 13th Malaysia Plan and China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.
"We should leverage our complementary strengths, consolidate the integration and interconnection of industrial and supply chains, and keep advancing high-quality Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation.
"China will continue to share its experiences and expertise with Malaysia to assist its development of artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, digital sovereignty, 5G communications, and green technology, among others,” he said.
Ouyang noted that there should be a high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and jointly push for an early enforcement of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol.
"We should uphold free trade and economic globalisation, and resolutely oppose unilateralism and protectionism. As important members of the Global South, China and Malaysia should continue to enhance coordination on international and regional affairs, and jointly make the global governance system more just and fair.
"China has become the world's second-largest market for consumption and imports, whose economic scale is highly likely to reach 140 trillion yuan this year. By practising high-level opening-up and high-quality BRI cooperation, China will continue to share its development opportunities with the rest of the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the briefing, Dewan Rakyat Speaker (House of Representatives), Tan Sri Dr Johari Abdul, said the ASEAN-China Plan of Action 2026-2030 will lay a strong foundation for the next stage of cooperation and support the realisation of ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future.
"Likewise, the signing of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 in October 2025 is both timely and necessary, offering an opportunity to deepen economic resilience and unlock new avenues for cooperation,” he said.
Johari called for cooperation in strengthening economic ties, enhancing regional connectivity, promoting sustainable development, especially in areas such as renewable energy and green technology and expanding people-to-people exchanges.
"Most importantly, we share a responsibility to uphold stability and cooperation in our region. For Malaysia, constructive engagement, rather than speculation, has always been our approach,” he said.
Johari said that structured dialogue enables both nations to move beyond assumptions, understand policy priorities firsthand, and identify areas for meaningful cooperation, whether in trade, investment, technology, climate resilience, or people-to-people exchanges. - Bernama
