(November 15, 2021)

Honourable Mr. Mah Hang Soon, Deputy Minister of Education,

Professor Ir. Dr. Ewe Hong Tat, President of UTAR,

Professor Dr. Choong Chee Keong, Vice President of UTAR,

Dear experts, teachers, and students,

Dear guests and friends,

Good morning everyone! This is my third time visiting Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). UTAR is a famous higher-educational institution in Malaysia and even a world-renowned one. UTAR has made well-recognized achievements in the fields of comprehensive educational strength, the construction of disciplines, academic reputation, international influence, etc. UTAR has cultivated many talents in various fields of politics, business, science, education, etc. Its famous alumni are all over the world. I am very glad to be invited to attend the International Forum on the Belt and Road Initiative 2021 and the inauguration ceremony of the Belt and Road Activity Centre at UTAR. First of all, on behalf of the Consulate General of China in Penang, I would like to congratulate UTAR for holding this event.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the past eight years, the BRI has evolved from a concept into real actions, and is being translated from a blueprint into reality. This important initiative has attracted the participation of more than 140 countries and more than 30 international organizations including United Nations (UN) agencies, shown strong vigor and vitality, and yielded good results and progress. The BRI has truly become the world’s broadest-based and largest platform for international cooperation. The economic and trade cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road has continuously achieved new results. Trade exchanges have reached a new stage, and two-way investments have opened up new prospects. Over the past eight years, trade in goods between China and countries along the Belt and Road reached 9.2 trillion US dollars, direct investment by Chinese companies in countries along the Belt and Road has surpassed 130 billion US dollars, and countries along the Belt and Road have set up about 27,000 enterprises in China, with a cumulative actual investment of 59.9 billion US dollars.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic last year has brought unprecedented impact on global economic and social development. Facing the test of the pandemic, China and its BRI partners helped each other and overcame difficulties together. Despite the impact of the pandemic, solid progress has been made in BRI cooperation with new development and new outcomes, which have not come easily and have lighted a bright spot amid the haze of the pandemic. Statistics show that in 2020, trade in goods between China and BRI partners registered a record high of 1.35 trillion US dollars, making a significant contribution to the COVID-19 response, economic stability and people’s livelihood in relevant countries. At the just-concluded China International Import Expo (CIIE), more than 1,000 Chinese and foreign companies have signed over 200 cooperation intention deals. Countries along the Belt and Road have received a large number of orders, which has further deepened cooperation.

Because China succeeds in controlling the pandemic and takes the lead in resuming growth from the pandemic, the country not only provides impetus for the recovery of the world economy hit by the pandemic, but also provides support and guarantee for many countries to obtain anti-epidemic supplies. The BRI is a path for global health cooperation against the pandemic to ensure the safety of people in all countries and achieve common health for mankind. China is carrying out joint production of vaccine with 16 countries including Malaysia, and has initially formed an annual production capacity of 700 million doses. China has also launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on COVID-19 Vaccines Cooperation with 30 countries, calling on the international community to work together to contribute to the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

Belt and Road cooperation pursues development, aims at mutual benefits, and conveys a message of hope. China’s own development will bring more development opportunities to all countries, create new development dividends, achieving mutual success. China is willing to work hand in hand with all parties to follow the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and champion the philosophy of open, green, and clean cooperation, in a bid to make Belt and Road cooperation high-standard, people-centered, and sustainable, to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and achieve more fruitful results.

ASEAN is China’s priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and a key region in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. Over the past eight years, the BRI has accelerated its connection with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, and economic integration has continued to deepen. In 2020, ASEAN made a historical breakthrough of becoming China’s largest trading partner and a key area for Chinese enterprises’ outbound investment. The efforts of China and ASEAN to jointly promote infrastructure connectivity have gradually yielded positive results. A large number of projects such as the China-Thailand Railway, China-Laos Railway, Malaysia East Coast Railway Link, and other projects are moving forward in a down-to-earth manner. A positive trend of ASEAN’s overall participation in the joint construction of the Belt and Road has taken shape. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement initiated and led by ASEAN will take effect on January 1 next year for the countries that have formally submitted their instrument of ratification. As the world’s largest free trade agreement, the RCEP will certainly boost the development of regional and global free trade and inject impetus into the recovery of ASEAN and the global economy in the post-COVID-19 era. Against such a backdrop, China-Malaysia’s joint construction of the Belt and Road will help Malaysia better participate in regional cooperation and share the results of regional integration.

Malaysia is one of the first countries to support and participate in BRI cooperation. China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years, and has been the largest investor in the Malaysian manufacturing industry for five consecutive years. In the first nine months of this year, the bilateral trade volume between China and  Malaysia exceeded 120 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 33.8 percent. The COVID-19 pandemic has not halted China-Malaysia cooperation. JA Solar Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. plans to expand production capacity in Penang, and some Chinese enterprises such as XSD International Paper Sdn. Bhd., Risen Solar Technology Sdn. Bhd., etc. have successively set up factories in Northern Malaysia. All these bilateral cooperation will create new employment opportunities and improve the livelihood and well-being of the local people.

Dear friends,

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Over the past century, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people and forged ahead in pursuing a great struggle, and achieved great success in revolution, construction, and reform, creating miracles in the achievement of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability. This year is the inaugural year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and China is embarking on a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. China accelerates the new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay, mutually reinforcing domestic and international circulations, which will enable the country to offer more market, investment, and growth opportunities to its BRI partners including Malaysia.

As this year marks the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations as well as the China-ASEAN Year of Sustainable Development Cooperation, the two sides have broad prospects for cooperation and development. As an important member of ASEAN, Malaysia has historical, cultural, and geographical advantages in the construction of the BRI. The friendship between China and Malaysia has a long history and has grown from strength to strength with the passage of time. The economies and industrial structures of the two countries are highly complementary and have great cooperation potential. Malaysia put forward the “Shared Prosperity Vision 2030” which advocates cooperation to create a better future. This year, Malaysia has formulated and passed the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025. In his speech at the 130th session of the China Import and Export Fair, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, “In line with Malaysia’s Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, we strongly believe Malaysia’s aspiration will resonate well with China and Canton Fair participating countries.” The BRI initiative will open up more frontiers of connectivity and will create new possibilities for growth and development across various regions and countries.

China and Malaysia are jointly promoting high-quality development of the BRI cooperation of diverse forms in wide fields. However, there are still some issues in the BRI cooperation in Malaysia such as insufficient awareness of the BRI, and lack of research and publicity by experts and scholars. The research team currently led by UTAR Vice President Professor Dr. Choong Chee Keong is stepping up efforts to shore up the weak links, and will conduct research on BRI from the Malaysian perspective and in view of China-Malaysia cooperation. I hope that visionary people from all walks of life will seize this opportunity and actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation to promote the BRI cooperation between China and Malaysia. It is expected that the two countries would continue to join hands and aim for further cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era, accelerate high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation, enhance pragmatic cooperation in various fields, create more highlights of cooperation, strive to bring greater benefits to the two countries and two peoples, and promote China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

Lastly, I wish this event a complete success and may the Belt and Road Activity Centre be great and successful. I wish everyone good heath, success in your work, family happiness, and all the best!

Thank you.