On December 4, 2021, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah co-chaired the First China-Malaysia High Level Committee Meeting in Anji County, Zhejiang Province.
Wang Yi said China and Malaysia are good neighbors of mutual trust and good partners for win-win cooperation. In recent years, bilateral relations have been continuously deepened and improved through joint efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and promote economic recovery. Not long ago, President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and other leaders of ASEAN countries jointly attended the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations and announced to establish the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, setting a new milestone in the history of bilateral relations. Against this backdrop, the China-Malaysia High Level Committee holding its first meeting is well-timed. Both sides should give full play to the role of this mechanism platform, continue to deepen strategic mutual trust, make overall plans for cooperation in various fields, and take concrete actions to implement the important outcomes of the ASEAN-China commemorative summit, so as to promote the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level in the post-pandemic era.
Saifuddin extended his congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, sincerely wishes and firmly believes that China will continue to make brilliant achievements. He said it is admirable that China has successfully won the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and played a leading role in the global fight against the pandemic. The Malaysian side appreciates China for providing the support of vaccines and anti-pandemic materials in a timely manner and is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in vaccines and drugs research and development. Malaysia highly appreciates China's important contributions to the full success of the ASEAN-China commemorative summit and looks forward to pushing for greater development of bilateral relations. Malaysia and China enjoy a time-honored friendship that cannot be separated by mountains and seas. Developing relations with China is a priority of Malaysia's diplomacy. The Malaysian side is ready to take the First High Level Committee Meeting of the two sides as an opportunity to deepen practical cooperation in all areas and inject new and strong impetus into bilateral relations.
Both sides agreed to build a more solid China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership in the post-pandemic era and reached a broad consensus on key cooperation priorities for the next stage.
The first is to intensify strategic communication and deepen political mutual trust. The two sides should maintain high-level exchanges, coordinate and cooperate on major issues in a timely manner, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries. Both sides should make good use of mechanisms, such as China-Malaysia strategic consultation, strategic defense consultation, and joint working group on countering transnational crimes, so as to jointly make positive contributions to regional peace and stability.
The second is to continue to promote anti-pandemic cooperation to jointly forge a healthy shield. The two sides should explore cooperation in the research and development of upgraded vaccines and specific anti-COVID drugs, strengthen cooperation in the entire chain of vaccine clinical trials, procurement and production, and deepen cooperation in the field of traditional Chinese medicine.
The third is to deepen the Belt and Road cooperation and accelerate economic recovery. Both sides should step up the formulation of cooperation plans, and take the 10th anniversary of the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" project as an opportunity to build a demonstration zone for economic and trade innovation and development, and a high-quality demonstration zone for Belt and Road capacity cooperation. China is willing to continue to expand imports of high-quality Malaysian products to bring more tangible benefits to the two peoples.
The fourth is to focus on common development and promote the Global Development Initiative (GDI). The Malaysian side takes a positive view and looks forward to participating in the GDI proposed by President Xi Jinping to contribute to the sustainable development of the world. The two sides will focus on promoting cooperation in the two major areas of digital economy and green development, and jointly seize the development opportunities in the post-pandemic era.
The fifth is to enrich people-to-people exchanges and promote people-to-people bonds. Both sides need to explore new modes of cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation, and strengthen cooperation in education, think tanks, films, sports and other areas. The two sides should carry out personnel exchanges in a prudent and orderly manner and strive to resume frequent visits at an early date. Malaysia supports China in hosting the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
The sixth is to lead East Asian cooperation and maintain regional peace. The two sides should implement the outcomes and consensus of the ASEAN-China commemorative summit, promptly upgrade the comprehensive strategic partnership development plan, deepen regional economic integration, accelerate the consultation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and promote China-ASEAN relations to achieve greater development from a new starting point.
After the meeting, the two foreign ministers jointly met the press and answered questions.
During the meeting, competent authorities of the two sides renewed the memorandum of China-Malaysia cooperation on traditional medicine and other cooperation agreements. The basketball associations of the two countries signed a letter of intent on cooperation.
