Strengthening China-Malaysia ties: A powerful boost for a shared future amongst neighbouring nations

Recently, on his first state visit to China after starting his second term, President Trump agreed to foster a constructive and strategically stable China-U.S. relationship, which has brought about a phased de-escalation of tariff and trade frictions. This can be seen as a reassuring move for global economic cooperation.

Since 2008, the US has unilaterally implemented policies such as "building a small yard with high walls", "decoupling and breaking chains" and "reciprocal tariffs". These policies have brought great uncertainty to economic globalisation and severely threatened the orderly development of global trade.

Against this backdrop, regional peace and development have become especially precious. In Southeast Asia, the regional situation and global changes are deeply intertwined, and surrounding relations are becoming increasingly close.

The establishment of the China-Asean common market has become a powerful tool to counter unilateralism. China and Asean have a combined population of over 2 billion, and they are each other's largest trading partners.

In the first quarter of 2025, Asean's imports and exports accounted for 16.6% of China's total foreign trade. The creation of the common market not only effectively promotes trade in the surrounding areas and provides a foundation for the common prosperity of the surrounding economies, but also China's experience in reform, opening up, and modernisation offers valuable lessons for promoting economic integration in the surrounding countries.

As Rebecca Fatima STA Maria, former Executive Director of APEC and Vice Chancellor of Sunway University in Malaysia, said during the third China-Asean Economic Relations Seminar, "For both China and Asean, establishing the

China-Asean common market is a grand goal. It will inject momentum into Asean's development and also encourage Asean to reflect on its own economic integration process."

Building a community with a shared future for neighbouring countries reflects China's diplomatic philosophy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness.

This means being friendly and kind to neighbours, treating each other with sincerity, achieving mutual benefits, and being open and inclusive. It involves deepening cooperation in areas such as foreign interactions, economic cooperation, security building, and cultural exchanges to promote common prosperity and coexistence among neighbouring countries.

As early as 2013, China proposed to build a community with a shared future with Asean. Currently, China has reached a consensus with eight Asean member states to establish bilateral communities with a shared future.

In April this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first state visit to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. During the visit, he attended nearly 30 activities and helped to achieve more than 100 cooperation outcomes.

This has injected new momentum into bilateral interactions, multilateral cooperation, and regional peace and development.

There is a Chinese saying, "Good neighbour, Sai jinbao". China and Malaysia are not only good neighbours separated by the sea but also like-minded friends and partners in joint development.

In 2024, the bilateral trade between China and Malaysia exceeded US$210bil for the first time. China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, while Malaysia is China's second-largest trading partner and largest source of imports among Asean member states.

With the continuous advancement of high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people bonds between China and Malaysia are deepening day by day.

Over the more than 50 years since the formal establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Malaysia have actively engaged in people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, continuously nurturing and enriching the tree of friendship between the two nations.

This has led to many record-breaking achievements in areas such as culture, education, and tourism. From the frequent "durian flights" between the two countries to the successful inscription of the "Sending off the King's Boat" on the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list; from the development of the Tanjung Malim Automotive High-Tech Valley to the joint establishment of the Xiamen University Malaysia Branch; from the dissemination of literature and film to the promotion of folk customs and arts—cultural exchanges have been subtle yet profound and powerful.

During his visit to Malaysia in 2013, President Xi Jinping mentioned, "We will never forget that after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008, the Malaysian people generously donated money and supplies. We will also never forget that in 2012, Malaysian student Yang Yongkang donated hematopoietic stem cells, successfully saving the life of a 7-year-old child in Anhui, China,".

To make a long story short, both China and Malaysia are important developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, representatives of emerging market economies, and significant participants in the global South. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind coincides with Malaysia's vision of "Prosperous Malaysia".

Jointly building a high-level strategic community with a shared future between China and Malaysia is not only about the well-being of the two peoples but also about the future of the Asia-Pacific region.

Malaysia, as the rotating chair of Asean, should play a coordinating role and take the initiative to advance the building of a community with a shared future for neighbouring countries.

Zhang Suqiu

Professor at the School of International Communication, Communication

University of China.