Malaysia is vibrant and stable, says China's envoy

Dr Wee and Bai (in blue) at the ceremony to honour his appointment as China's Ambassador to Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economy is vibrant and stable, with a sufficient foreign currency reserve, said Chinese Ambassador Bai Tian.

The increasingly stronger Ringgit and a 14.8% growth of foreign trade in 2017, he said, resulted in different international finance agencies adjusting the forecast of Malaysia's growth rate as China believe in its potential.

Speaking at a ceremony to honour his appointment as China's Ambassador to Malaysia Thursday (Feb 1), he said it was an honour to witness this improvement of trade and bilateral relations between Malaysia and China.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, together with diplomats, captains of industries and Government officials were also at the celebration.

"I am confident both countries' economies will inject strong impetus to push China-Malaysia relations to (another) pinnacle," he said, adding that he had a blueprint to achieve this.

"During president Xi Jinping's visit to Malaysia in 2013, both countries agreed to upgrade our bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. In the past five years, we have achieved a comprehensive, rapid and great-leap-forward development.

"Our relations have reached all-time high. Leaders of both countries regard our relations as one of the highest priority in their diplomatic agenda. The pragmatic cooperation in various areas has achieved robust development based on a win-win principle," said Bai.

On tourism, he said that over two million Chinese tourists travelled to Malaysia annually, bringing with them local consumption of over 4,000RMB (RM2,476) per capita.

He said Malaysia reflected "Truly Asia" and that it is the essence of Asia.

"It is home to a tapestry of wonderful flavours and spectacular natural wonders. It plays a key role among Asean countries," Bai said.

He added that when he visited the Signature Tower Project contracted to a Chinese company a few days ago, he was told by the manager of China State Construction that "54% of material supply and 40% of administrative staff of the project comes from Malaysia.

"Such kind of cooperation has brought advanced techniques, developed infrastructure and job opportunities to Malaysia. Malaysian companies operating in China also have made their own contribution to China's economic growth."

Bai said that he had been the officer in charge of South-East Asian Affairs and China-Malaysia relations in China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past four years.

"I have been involved in almost all high-level visits and significant cooperation between both countries. Since I have taken office as the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia for the past two months, I have a new-found appreciation and recognition for Malaysia.

"I have met 14 Cabinet ministers of the Malaysian Government and leaders of local states, and have attended around 50 activities held by various sectors of society of Malaysia.

"I was deeply impressed by the ministers' strong determination in promoting China-Malaysia cooperation.

"I was also deeply encouraged by active support and participation to our bilateral relations from the Malaysian society and the deep affection toward China by people from all walks of life in Malaysia," he said.

He explained that China-Malaysia relationship had deep roots in political, economic and people-to-people aspects which had borne fruit.

On China's growth, Bai said that China's GDP in 2017 was 2.5 times bigger than Japan's.

"The gap between China and the biggest economy of the United States with a GDP of US$19tril (RM73.83tril) has been further narrowed. Thus, China's role as the engineer and contributor of world economy has been further enhanced," he said.