Continued strength in Sino-malaysian ties
Trade and tourism robust with top ASEAN partner
When legendary Chinese admiral and voyager Zheng He and his fleet stopped at Malacca about 700 years ago, he connected the small island with one of the strongest countries of the day, China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
But Zheng didn’t bring weapons to use. He brought peace and trade.
Those close ties continue today.
Booming tourism provides ample evidence of well-based bilateral ties, as this year China is likely to send more holidaymakers to Malaysia than vice versa for the first time.
“China has received about 1.6 million Malaysian visitors (annually) in recent years. But the number of Chinese holidaymakers to Malaysia surged by 20 percent last year to 1.5 million from 1.2 million in 2011,” Lin Dong, Chinese counselor to Malaysia, told the China News Agency this month.
Figures from Malaysia’s official tourism office show the country attracted nearly half a million Chinese visitors in the first three months of this year, up from about 392,000 during the same period last year.
The office is now confident some 1.7 million Chinese holidaymakers will arrive this year, 26.4 percent more than in 2012.
“We need to encourage people-to-people exchanges, especially among the younger generation, not only in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, but also in second and third- tier cities,” Malaysia’s Ambassador to China Iskandar Sarudin has said in an interview with China Daily earlier this year.
Booming trade
In addition to tourism, trade continues to be robust despite a challenging world economy, more “evidence of the wellbased bilateral ties”, said Sarudin.
China’s trade with Malaysia, its largest single trade partner in Southeast Asia, reached $33.88 billion in the first quarter of this year, a rise of 23.9 percent over the same period in 2012. China has been Malaysia’s largest trade partner since 2009.
“China’s imports from Malaysia include palm oil, electronic components and crude rubber, while China’s major exports to Malaysia are machinery, appliances and chemical products,” he said. “If we perform well in these sectors, I am optimistic that bilateral trade will continue to increase in 2013.”
China’s ambassador to Malaysia Chai Xi said he expects the two-way trade volume to reach $100 billion in 2013.
China’s trade with Malaysia in 2012 was valued at $95.7 billion, or one-third of the total with all 10 ASEAN countries, according to figures from the Chinese embassy in Malaysia.
Sarudin said the positive trade results came despite risks and an unstable world economy due to solid relations between the two governments.
“Sino- Malaysian relations are based upon a very strong foundation, upon traditional friendship with mutual respect, equality and peaceful coexistence,” he said.
China and Malaysia recently established two joint industrial parks, one in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and another in Malaysia’s northern port city of Kuantan.
“As a ‘twin park’ to the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park that opened in 2012, the Kuantan park will give priority to industries such as automobiles, machinery, gas and petroleum,” said Sarudin. “Both governments attach great importance to the parks.”
“We have a joint committee between the two countries, directed by ministers of trade and senior officials and stakeholders from both countries,” he said. “The committee will ensure the progress of the work and monitor policy direction, including mapping out incentives such as tax policies to attract investors.”
The jointly built park is projected to attract investment worth $6.4 billion and provide 5,500 job opportunities by 2020, he added.