Malaysian experts expressed that Chinese President Xi Jinping's just-concluded state visit to the country will boost bilateral ties and China-ASEAN cooperation.
Xi arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday for a state visit at the invitation of King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.
In a signed article published in Malaysian media before his arrival, Xi said China fully supports Malaysia in fulfilling its duties as the rotating chair of ASEAN for 2025. He looks forward to seeing Malaysia as a better bridge in coordinating relations between China and ASEAN.
He added that China is willing to work with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries to follow the historical trend of peace and development, resist geopolitical competition and bloc confrontation, and overcome unilateralism and protectionism.
During his meeting with the King and talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday, Xi reiterated China's support for Malaysia as the chair of ASEAN and urged joint efforts to resist decoupling, supply chain disruptions, "small yard with high fences" and arbitrary imposition of tariffs with openness, inclusiveness, unity, and cooperation.
"As the [ASEAN] chair, it's really an honor for us to have President Xi come to visit us, and we can carry the message for the rest of ASEAN. But the key moving forward is that we need to talk more and we need to work together more," Wong Chen, a member of the Parliament of Malaysia, told China Global Television Network.
Chee Meng Tan, an Assistant Professor of Business Economics at University of Nottingham Malaysia, said closer China-ASEAN cooperation will help countries in the region mitigate the risks caused by tariffs imposed by the United States.
"Even though Trump has said that he's putting a 90-day halt on tariffs on 60 countries in the world, that doesn't mean that the tariffs are gone. The tariffs could still be there. So I think ASEAN needs to mitigate this risk by talking very closely to China," he said.
Malaysia is the second leg of Xi's current five-day, three-nation Southeast Asia tour. He wrapped up a state visit to Vietnam from Monday to Tuesday and started a state visit to Cambodia on Thursday.
Xi's Malaysia visit boosts bilateral ties, China-ASEAN cooperation: experts
