Xi Jinping Meets with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia

On April 25, 2019, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia at the Great Hall of the People.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Mr. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's term of office covers half of the 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. You have made important contributions to the development of China-Malaysia relations. At present, bilateral relations are standing at a new historical starting point. China and Malaysia should take the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity to create a bright future for the bilateral relations. The two sides should adhere to China-Malaysia friendship, mutual respect and trust, accommodate each other's major concerns, and understand and support each other. The Belt and Road Initiative will push forward China's all-round opening up, which will bring about bigger opportunities for all countries in the world, especially for the neighboring countries. China and Malaysia enjoy solid foundation and bright prospects for the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides should strengthen planning, enlarge the cooperation platform and promote high-quality cooperation. The two joint industrial parks in Qinzhou, China and Kuantan, Malaysia should be well built into an important connecting point for the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, to promote connectivity and development of the two countries and the region. Mr. Prime Minister advocates "Asian values" as well as unity and cooperation among developing countries, which is of great practical significance in the current situation. The two sides should strengthen multilateral coordination, and improve and upgrade the cooperation between China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Chinese side supports the Malaysian side in hosting the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation next year, and promoting regional economic integration, economic globalization and the building of an open world economy.

Mahathir Mohamad said that since its founding 70 years ago, the People's Republic of China has successfully resolved the subsistence issue of nearly 1.4 billion people and enabled the people to live an increasingly happy life. This is a remarkable achievement in itself. The purpose of my visit to China is to learn from China's successful development experience. Malaysia and China enjoy a long history of friendship. The Malaysian side cherishes its relations with China and is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with the Chinese side to promote the continued high-level development of Malaysia-China relations along the set track. The Belt and Road Initiative is a great initiative with huge potential, which will not only help deal with the infrastructure and transport bottlenecks that are impeding the development of different countries, but also address the problem of unbalanced development among countries, promote cultural dialogue and exchanges, and help fundamentally eradicate the root causes of war, extremism and terrorism faced by mankind. The international community should better know and understand the Belt and Road Initiative, which will be beneficial to the world. The Malaysian side supports the Belt and Road Initiative. Malaysia is a country along the Maritime Silk Road and has unique location advantages. The Malaysian side looks forward to accelerating its own development by jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and stands ready to enhance coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs with the Chinese side to jointly push forward ASEAN-China relations.

Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi and He Lifeng attended the meeting.