Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 17th Title: Let the ship of China-Malaysia friendship sail to the new "golden 50 years"

Xin Shiping

"China-Malaysia friendship follows the historical trend and the future is promising." At the welcoming banquet held by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, President Xi Jinping learned about the past and expressed his confidence and expectations for the bright prospects of China-Malaysia friendship.

After 12 years, President Xi Jinping's new state visit to Malaysia is of great significance. The two sides issued a joint statement announcing the construction of a high-level strategic community of shared future between China and Malaysia. The leaders of the two countries jointly witnessed the exchange of more than 30 bilateral cooperation texts between China and Malaysia, covering multiple fields such as the three major global initiatives, the "Confucian-Iran Civilization Dialogue", the digital economy, service trade, and the upgrading and development of the "two countries and two parks", laying a solid foundation for the ship of China-Malaysia friendship to work together to embark on a new journey.

China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors across the sea. From the first time that Master Yijing of the Tang Dynasty recorded the history of the Gujida Kingdom in writing in Chinese, to the five visits to Malacca by navigator Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty, to the help of the Southern Overseas Chinese mechanics in Malaysia to help open up the lifeline of the Yunnan-Burma Highway... The friendship of "slashing water continuously" has become increasingly popular with the polishing of time. For more than half a century of diplomatic relations, the two countries have insisted on mutual respect, equal treatment, and win-win cooperation, setting an example of relations between countries. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the ship of China-Malaysia relations is stable and is heading towards a new "golden 50 years".

The ballast of pragmatic cooperation is strongly carried out to consolidate the foundation for China and Malaysia to jointly seek development. The "Durian flight" shuttles back and forth, the "two countries and two gardens" bloom and the east coast railway project is smoothly promoted... Each vivid scene reflects the vitality of China-Malaysia economic and trade cooperation. China has become Malaysia's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years. The cooperation potential of the two countries in the fields of digital economy, green development, industrial investment, transportation infrastructure construction, etc. continues to be released, and the blueprint for the two sides to promote high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is becoming a real scene. The connotation of China-Malaysia cooperation has been continuously enriched and upgraded in quality, creating more new opportunities for the development of the two countries and even regions.

Roll the oars for cultural exchanges and stir up more waves of mutual learning among civilizations. The visa-free policy has promoted a "going away" trip. Some Malaysian pop singers are deeply loved in China. "Nezha: The Devil Child's Trouble" has become one of the most popular Chinese movies in Malaysia... Recent Malaysian polls show that Malaysia's mainstream public opinion is optimistic about China's development and looks forward to the continuous development of Malaysia-China relations. This power, rooted in the hearts of the people, injects inexhaustible impetus into the sustainable development of bilateral relations.

Raise the sails of multilateral cooperation and inspire the courage to move forward through the waves. China and Malaysia are both important developing countries, emerging market economies, and global South members, and have similar positions in maintaining international fairness and justice and promoting open and inclusive development. Faced with the current complex and changing situation in the world, China and Malaysia are united with regional countries to resist geopolitics and camp confrontation undercurrents, and will break through the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism and protect the bright development prospects of Asian homeland.

Looking to the future, President Xi Jinping put forward three opinions on building a high-level strategic China-Malaysia community with a shared future: "adhering to strategic autonomy and carrying out high-level strategic cooperation", "building development synergy, creating a benchmark for high-quality development cooperation", and "inheriting friendship from generation to generation, deepening exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations". The purpose is to guide the direction for promoting China-Malaysia cooperation in various fields, so that cooperation can create more welfare for the people of the two countries and make greater contributions to regional prosperity and stability.

Thousands of rivers gather and the sea is wide, and the wind is setting sail. Standing at a new historical starting point, China and Malaysia work together, which will surely add momentum to this ship of friendship that has sailed from the long river of history, move forward steadily and forward to a better future.