THE new Pakatan Harapan government should honour the bilateral agreements inked between the previous Najib Razak-led Barisan Nasional government and Beijing, China said yesterday.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his first press conference as prime minister yesterday said Malaysia would need to review a number of expensive public infrastructure projects funded by Chinese soft loans.

These include the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Line (ECRL), which PH slammed when it was in the opposition, calling it a “bailout for 1MDB”.

The Najib administration was accused of siphoning off billions of ringgit from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, leading to the state investor racking up RM31 billion in debts.

“China and Malaysia are friendly neighbours and China values its friendly relations with Malaysia. Now our bilateral relations enjoy a sound momentum of growth with fruitful outcomes in cooperation. This is worth cherishing and upholding by our two sides,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing.

Calling Dr Mahathir “a senior politician”, Geng said the prime minister, who was in power between 1981 and 2003, “made important contributions to the development of China-Malaysia relations”.

China, he said, believes Malaysia will maintain stability and development.

“We stand ready to work with the Malaysian side to move forward the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership, deliver greater benefits to the two peoples and promote regional stability and prosperity,” Geng said, when asked about Dr Mahathir’s promise to renegotiate some terms of the agreements with China following PH’s shock victory in the 14^th general election on Wednesday. – May 11, 2018.