PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will attend the second Belt and Road Summit in April, said Anthony Loke.

The transport minister said the invitation to the summit, to be held in Beijing, was extended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“In the past few months, many have expressed concern about Malaysia’s relationship with China.

“I can say here that although Malaysia has seen a change of government, its foreign policy concerning China remains the same,” he said in his speech at the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia’s (Huazhong) Chinese New Year event in Serdang today.

Malaysia’s relationship with China has come under the spotlight since Pakatan Harapan took federal power last May.

The new government has placed on hold several billion-ringgit projects involving China said to be “overpriced” or have “lopsided” contracts.

They include the East Coast Rail Link, and gas pipeline projects in Sabah and Sarawak.

Dr Mahathir today said Malaysia looks forward to improving ties with China, which he described as an economic powerhouse.

“China is different now… when we established relations with China, it was a very poor country, a Third World country, very backward. But now, China has made tremendous progress,” he was quoted by Bernama as saying in Kuala Lumpur.

“We find that China is now the biggest, and a very valuable, trading partner for Malaysia… so our policy is, of course, to improve the bilateral relationship.”

He said his visit to China in April will focus on the Belt and Road initiative, among others.

The prime minister said Malaysia will state its stand on the initiative after the trip. – February 15, 2019.