BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak have both delivered important speeches at an economic cooperation forum in Kuala Lumpur. Both leaders agreed on Friday to upgrade bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Both leaders spoke highly of the achievements of the cooperation between both countries and vowed to advance China-Malaysia ties in an all-round manner under new circumstances.
Economic ties between the two countries have always been close.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for four consecutive years, with bilateral trade hitting a record high of nearly 95 billion US dollars last year. Meanwhile, Malaysia has been China’s largest trade partner in the 10-member ASEAN five years in a row.
President Xi said the trade and economic cooperation between China and Malaysia is in the interest of both countries and also benefits the whole region.
During his speech, he laid out plans for improving the economic ties in the next five years including a target to boost bilateral trade to 160 billion US dollars by 2017.
He also vowed to encourage mutual investments and expressed support to projects such as the Qinzhou and Kuantan industrial parks and the six development corridors of Malaysia. Cooperation in agriculture and fishery was also underlined in his speech.
As for financial cooperation, President Xi stressed on expanding the scope of currency exchange between the two countries and avoiding financial risks. President Xi also vowed to build up a cooperation environment of openness, tolerance and mutual benefits.
Prime Minister Najib said China and Malaysia share an important strategic partnership. The two countries should deepen their cooperation to achieve mutual development and contribute more to regional and global peace and prosperity.
The two countries signed a five-year trade agreement during the forum. Prime Minister Najib said the agreement marks the beginning of a new stage in the bilateral relationship and sets out a clear vision of a common ambition, that is to build and elevate a comprehensive strategic partnership.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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