SERDANG: Malaysia and China should strengthen their economic partnership beyond traditional trade and investment says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said both countries had complementary economic ties and tremendous potential to expand their cooperation.
“Our partnership extends beyond traditional trade and investment. We should continue to work together to embrace innovation, strengthen industrial cooperation, develop talent and create greater value for businesses and our people,” he said in a video address at the 16th Malaysia-China Entrepreneurs Conference 2026 yesterday.
He said the conference had grown into an important platform for fostering business connections, strengthening mutual understanding and creating new opportunities between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim highlighted Malaysia’s multilingual and multicultural society as a competitive advantage in attracting foreign investors.
He said Malaysia’s ability to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, Arabic and English enabled local business partners to connect investors with markets across different regions.
“Whenever I meet investors from overseas, I say that you come to Malaysia to do business because your Malaysian partners can speak many languages, and this enables you to conduct business, trade and investment with the whole world,” he said during his keynote address at the launch of the conference, organised by the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) at Wisma Huazong.
Sim, who represented Anwar, also highlighted the strong bilateral ties between Malaysia and China, saying relations between the two countries had reached a historic high.
Recalling his visit to China alongside Anwar two years ago, he said Chinese President Xi Jinping had described Malaysia as a good friend.
“Xi had also described the next 50 years of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China as a golden era during his visit to Malaysia last year.”
Sim said government-to-government cooperation was important, but lasting relations ultimately depended on people from both countries engaging, exchanging ideas and building bridges of cooperation.
He also stressed the importance of business ethics, saying profitability should go hand in hand with honesty, trust and mutual benefit, particularly amid global uncertainty, geopolitical conflicts and increasing trade barriers.
