Dr M arrives in Beijing for Belt and Road forum

BEIJING: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport here Wednesday (April 24) for a five-day working visit to China.

He was accompanied by his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and their plane landed at 8pm.

They were received by Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and Nuryante Mohd Yazid, chargé d'Affaires at the Malaysian Embassy to China.

They were also met on arrival by high-ranking Chinese officials including Li Yingjin, vice-chairman of Standing Committee of Beijing People's Congress, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Bai Tian and his wife Chen Wei.

Dr Mahathir is here for the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF2), to be held from Thursday to Saturday.

The Prime Minister visited China in August last year.

During his first stint as Malaysia's premier from 1983 until 2003, he had visited the country seven times, reported Bernama.

Besides attending the forum on the Belt and Road initiative along with 36 world leaders and hundreds of representatives, Dr Mahathir will also hold discussions with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang and also President Xi Jinping, where issues of mutual interest are expected to dominate the agenda.

Dr Mahathir and Keqiang will also witness the signing of several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on enhancing palm oil trade between the two countries and on the RM44bil East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Peninsular Malaysia.

China has been Malaysia's largest trade partner for the past 10 years with total trade last year jumping eight per cent to stand at RM313bil.

The Prime Minister will also spend some time visiting China's leading telecommunications company, Huawei Technologies.

The Prime Minister will leave for home on Sunday (April 28).