Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day state visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, this is Sultan Ibrahim's first visit to a non-ASEAN country since assuming office as the head of state in January 2024. President Xi will hold a welcome ceremony and a banquet for him. The two heads of state will hold talks and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet with King Sultan Ibrahim.
China and Malaysia have a long-standing traditional friendship and are good neighbors and partners in mutual assistance and win-win cooperation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at Wednesday's press briefing.
In March last year, President Xi reached an important consensus with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, which has provided direction for the development of China-Malaysia relations in the new era, Lin said.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia and the Year of China-Malaysia Friendship.
China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years and is also one of the major sources of foreign investment for Malaysia.
King of Malaysia arrives in Beijing for state visit
The death toll in Lebanon from the ongoing Israeli attacks had risen to 2,350 since October of last year, with 10,906 others injured, said the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Tuesday said Israeli troops continued to advance its offensive in southern Lebanon, killing several Hezbollah militants.
On the same day, Hezbollah announced that its militants fired a barrage of rockets on northern Israel bordering Lebanon.
The IDF also said Israeli soldiers uncovered dozens of tunnel shafts and extensive underground facilities in southern Lebanon, and found weapons in a residential building during a raid.
Meanwhile, it revealed that the Israeli army detected about 30 rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel with some having been intercepted, and air sirens sounded there.
On early Wednesday morning, about 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Safed region of Israel, with no reports of casualties, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been exchanging fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border since outbreak of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7, last year. Hezbollah is showing solidarity with Hamas which was fighting a war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli military has been carrying out an extensive air campaign in Lebanon, dubbed "Arrows of the North," in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.
Lebanese death toll from Israeli attacks climbs to 2,350
