Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim praised the media cooperation between his country and China in a recent interview jointly carried out by China Media Group (CMG) and Malaysia's All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator (Astro).
Anwar was interviewed by reporters from the two media outlets ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Malaysia from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Ahead of the interview, the reporters shared their experiences with the prime minister over witnessing an ever intensifying cooperation between the two countries' media outlets over the past few years.
"The cooperation between CMG and Astro is one of symbols of the China-Malaysia friendship. We have cooperated for four years," said Luqman Hariz, Astro AWANI anchor and journalist.
"Every week, we would have discussions on issues of common concern with Malaysian experts from various fields. Last year we invited Astro AWANI colleagues to report the China International Import Expo in Shanghai. And this time, it's a great honor for us to interview you, Mr. Prime Minister, at the office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, together with our Malaysian colleagues," said Zhang Hong, a CMG reporter.
Calling the CMG-Astro cooperation a good start, Anwar said China is a good friend of Malaysia, and hoped for friendship with all countries.
"I think this is a good start. In fact, there are also noises within Malaysia that aim to sow discord between Malaysia and China, which I really don't understand. For Malaysia, we should be on good terms with all countries. Of course, we focus on and give priority to ASEAN and Asian countries. We think that China is a good friend to Malaysia. As Malaysia and China join hands and move forward together, more opportunities for bilateral economic and trade cooperation will be created," he said.
Malaysian PM gives thumb-up on China-Malaysia media cooperation
Highlighting the "Future Energy" as a key direction for China's strategic emerging industries, the country's nuclear energy development, guided by its three-step strategy, has seen major strides in the past year, said a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
In a recent press briefing, Xin Feng, also deputy general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), updated the media on the progresses China has achieved under the strategy.
"China's three-step strategy for nuclear energy development -- from the thermal reactor to the fast reactor and the fusion reactor -- was formulated in 1983 as a medium- and long-term plan. For the thermal reactor, over the past year, our 2.0 version of the Hualong One technology has been approved. This is a unified and fully self-owned intellectual property based third-generation nuclear power technology solution. And the Linglong One small modular reactor also successfully completed its cold-state functional test last year and is expected to be put into commercial operation this year," he said.
For the second and third steps, Chinese researchers and engineers have achieved milestones in the past year with the government support, Xin noted.
"Then for the fast reactor, last year, a closed-cycle system for an integral fast reactor successfully achieved preliminary standard design. We will continue to solve its engineering technology challenges. As for the fusion reactor, in 2025, with national support, we established the China Fusion Energy Company in Shanghai. And our Huanliu-3, a platform for conducting research and development of fusion technology, made a big stride, with an iron temperature in it achieving 117 million Celsius and an electron temperature reaching 160 million Celsius. We will continue to adhere to the development strategy and focus on technological research and engineering technology development," Xin said.
The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on March 5 and March 4, respectively.
The "two sessions" -- which refer to the annual meetings of China's supreme organ of state power, the National People's Congress (NPC), and its top political advisory body, the National Committee of the CPPCC -- are a key event on the country's political calendar and offer a window into the country's development direction.
China's nuclear energy development makes great strides with three-step strategy: CPPCC member
