Huang (second right, dark blazer) sharing a light moment with Sabah media representatives.
KOTA KINABALU: A series of events celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China this year aims to strengthen the friendship between the two countries.
China's consul-general in Kota Kinabalu Huang Shifang said the purpose of these activities was to deepen mutual strategic trust and promote cultural exchanges.
She said this during a briefing on the Chinese economy and a media exchange session here on Tuesday (April 30).
Huang said China and Malaysia had always enjoyed friendly ties, adding that Malaysia was the first Asean country to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1974.
She said that last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim visited China twice and reached an important consensus with President Xi Jinping on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, leading China-Malaysia relations into a new phase.
“(Anwar said) Malaysians of all walks of life are committed to strengthening friendship with China (and that) the unity government takes further developing friendly relations with China as its priority task,” she said.
Huang said that in 2023, the China-Malaysia bilateral trade had reached 1338.3bil yuan, with China the largest trading partner of Malaysia for 15 consecutive years.
“In recent years, the landmark progress in China-Malaysia relations has created a rare opportunity for the cooperation between China and Sabah.
“In 2023, Sabah carried out friendly exchanges with many provinces and cities in China - the Chief Minister of Sabah, as well as some other state Ministers and assemblymen, visited China.
“All these visits have given rise to cooperation on the local level between our two sides,” she said.
Huang said Sabah and China cooperated in areas like investments, trade and culture, adding that China was Sabah's biggest trading partner.
She said China has significantly contributed to Sabah's economy in recent years, both in industry and tourism.
For instance, she said that the Kibing Group from China has invested 3bil yuan in Sabah's photovoltaic glass manufacturing industry, creating around 2,000 jobs.
“They have successfully exported the first batch of photovoltaic glass from Sabah, which is also the first batch of photovoltaic glass exported from Sabah, a milestone for Sabah's manufacturing industry,” she said.
Huang said thanks to the reciprocal visa-free policies between China and Malaysia, nearly 92,000 Chinese tourists visited Sabah in January-February this year, accounting for some 17.27% of the total number of foreign tourists in Sabah during the same period.
“To enhance the friendship between the Chinese and Sabahan people, the Consulate-General and Yayasan Nur Jauhar Foundation have donated funds to build reading facilities in remote rural schools in Sabah since 2022.
Huang added that the Consulate-General will host a reception next month to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia.
She said the seventh Short Film Competition and the third Essay Competition in the second half of the year were among the events planned, hoping to boost exchanges and cooperation between China and Sabah.
Melaka will serve as the host for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations.
