PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang in conjunction with his visit to Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, tomorrow.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, will undertake a working visit to Nanning to attend the 20th China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) 2023 at the invitation of Li.

Malaysia’s consul general in Nanning, Ahmad Phadil Ismail, said both leaders will meet for the second time this year after Anwar’s maiden visit to China in March.

“The bilateral meeting will enable the two prime ministers to follow up on their last discussions,” he told Malaysian reporters in Nanning, today.

Phadil added that Anwar will also engage with Chinese corporate giants in in the city following the meeting with Li. 

In March this year, Anwar made his first visit to China, where he visited Beijing and Hainan, and saw Malaysia secure a record RM170 billion worth of investment commitments from the world’s second largest economy.

Phadil said during his one-day working visit to Nanning, Anwar is also scheduled to speak at the opening ceremony of the Caexpo and the China-Asean Business and Investment Summit (Cabis), alongside Li and other Asean leaders, including those from Laos and Vietnam.

The prime minister will also be officiating the Malaysian pavilion at Caexpo.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry, in a separate statement, said during the bilateral meeting, both leaders will discuss the state of Malaysia-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Following that, Li will also host a luncheon in honour of the prime minister.

Caexpo is one of the biggest international exhibitions co-organised by China and Asean, which serves as a crucial platform for businessmen and enterprises from the Asean region and China to explore business synergies and promote their products within the world’s largest free trade area. 

Malaysia has been participating in the expo since its inception in 2004, said the statement.

The statement also said a total of 107 Malaysian companies will participate in the expo under the Malaysian pavilion, coordinated by the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation.

During the visit, the prime minister will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin, representing Foreign Minister Zambry Abd Kadir; Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz; Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming; Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Chan Foong Hin, as well as senior government officials. 

China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009. In 2022, the value of trade between Malaysia and China was about 17.1% of Malaysia’s total global trade, which is worth RM2.8 trillion.

The total trade between the two countries in 2022 was RM487.13 billion, an increase of 15.6% compared to the previous year.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Malaysia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the two countries will also celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year. – Bernama, September 16, 2023.