The friendly exchanges between Malaysia and China can be traced back to the early days of AD when Chinese merchants brought Malay Peninsula utensils and crops. After the Han Dynasty, states of Malay Peninsula had an increasing number of exchanges and established official relations with China. In 1405, Zheng He, a great navigator of China, captained a Chinese fleet to visit Malacca for the first time, which further strengthened the friendly exchanges between Malaysia and China.
As the first country of ASEAN that established diplomatic relations with China, Malaysia has a political history of being friendly to and mutually trustful with China. In recent years, exchanges of economy and trade between Malaysia and China have been enhancing. In 2017, the bilateral trade volume between China and Malaysia was US$ 96.030 billion, making Malaysia the second largest trade partner of China and the largest source of import for China among ASEAN countries. China has become the largest trade partner of Malaysia for nine consecutive years.
All-around cooperation leading to remarkable achievements
Speaking of the cooperation between Malaysia and China, the well-known “Two Countries, Twin Parks” must be highlighted. Herein, the “Two Countries, Twin Parks” refer to Malaysia-China Kuntan Industrial Park and China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in Guangxi of China. Such a cooperation model has become a paragon for the bilateral cooperation between China and ASEAN, and it should be attributed to not just joint efforts made by both governments and active involvement of commercial circles, but also the favorable platform of cooperation China-ASEAN Exposition (CAEXPO)
As an international economy and trade event that was jointly sponsored by economy and trade authorities of China and 10 member states (like Malaysia) of ASEAN together with ASEAN Secretariat, CAEXPO took place each year in Nanning City of Guangxi Province as from 2004. So far, CAEXPO has been successfully held for 14 years, and it played a vital role in boosting the friendly cooperation of China and ASEAN.
In 2011, Malaysia served as the Country of Honor of the 8th CAEXPO, during which leaders of both countries together witnessed the signing of contract for China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, and unveiled the plaque for the industrial park.
"Two Countries, Twin Parks" model is only a miniature of cooperation between Malaysia and China at the CAEXPO platform. Over the past 14 years since it was held, CAEXPO have achieved remarkable results in promoting investment cooperation of China and Malaysia. At the once-a-year CAEXPO, investment promotion meetings and project matchmaking meetings are convened, and successful signing of project contracts boosts Chinese enterprises’ investment in Malaysia. "Trade cooperation between China and Malaysia is deepening continuously, and more and more Chinese enterprises will invest in Malaysia through CAEXPO," Encik Ahmad Khairuddin, executive director of Malaysian Investment Development Authority, was quoted as saying. "Malaysia will provide investors with consummate facilities, open trade environment, and preferential policies like tax deduction and exemption, so as to bring in more Chinese technologies and capital on the basis of original cooperation".
Malaysia’s white coffee, bird’s nest, and frozen durian, etc. have been famous in China. Though CAEXPO’s exclusive “Nanning Channel", share of "Made in Malaysia" products in Chinese market keeps on increasing. Also, Malaysia’s bulk raw materials, agricultural products and foods, electronic products, automobile and auto fittings, and locally characteristic high-quality commodities like handicrafts, etc. are of great charm to Chinese consumers. Today, a lot of Malaysian enterprises have deemed the Nanning-based CAEXPO as an important commercial venue they are bound to visit each year.
Each year, CAEXPO will set up the special exhibition zone
“Charming City”, which becomes a new window for the cooperation between Malaysia and China in tourism. Aside from the well-known Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, other cities in Malaysia, including Putrajaya, Penang, Kelang, Cyberjaya, Kuching, Johor State, Kuantan, Ipoh, and Labuan, were ever defined as “Charming City” for display. So far, China has become the largest source of overseas tourists for Malaysia, for example, more than 3 million person-times of Chinese tourists visited Malaysia in 2017, which brought Malaysia revenue of at least MYR 15 billion.
New glories in the new stage
The 15th CAEXPO is set to take place in Nanning City during September 12-15, 2018. At the upcoming CAEXPO, leaders of China and ASEAN countries will be invited to attend, and also leaders or ministerial-level officials of Malaysia will lead a delegation to attend.
During CAEXPO, meeting of leaders and high-end dialogue of political and commercial circles will be held. Through this CAEXPO, commercial circle of Malaysia will have a chance to exchange ideas with important members of governments face to face, so as to acquire high-end information. It is worth saying that among 10 member states of ASEAN, Malaysia is one of the first countries that charter exhibition hall, and it ranks top among ASEAN countries in terms of exhibition scale, trade volume, and investment contract amount. At the upcoming CAEXPO with total exhibition area of 124,000 square meters, Malaysia will continue chartering D13 Hall, and its exhibition area is estimated to exceed 3,200 square meters. Meanwhile, a series of investment promotion activities like Malaysia National Promotion Conference will take place, so as to set up a platform for both sides’ investment cooperation.
At this CAEXPO, the economy and trade promotion services will be further refined on. To be precise, "One Event for One Industry" will be launched. In other words, at least one special trade meeting and one purchase meeting for professional buyers will be organized for each industry present at the exposition. In addition, CAEXPO will organize Chinese buyers to purchase ASEAN’s foods and characteristic commodities through state-level chambers of commerce and associations, as well as take advantage of market channels to invite international professional visitors to purchase at the exposition. Besides, it will be in an effort to carry out investment promotion through cooperation with ASEAN and national industry associations and professional institutions beyond ASEAN.
The friendly cooperation between Malaysia and China has stepped into a new development stage, and CAEXPO carrying the vision of cooperation is being upgraded and developed on a continuous basis. Malaysia and China will join hands and move ahead together for a more resplendent future.
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