A staff members presents the newly released memorial stamps for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia on May 31, 2024 in Xinle, North China's Hebei Province. Photo: VCG

 
China and Malaysia have achieved fruitful results in industrial cooperation, with the vehicle industry becoming a highlight of bilateral economic and trade exchanges, Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong said on Tuesday when meeting with Malaysian Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz in Kuala Lumpur. 

The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on deepening cooperation in key industries such as automobiles, according to a post by the ministry. 

Jin said that China is willing to work with Malaysia to encourage Chinese and foreign automobile enterprises to deepen cooperation in technology, investment, trade and other areas, and push forward the scientific and technological innovation of the global automobile industry, while safeguarding highly efficient, stable and smooth international industrial and supply chains. 

China has become an important force in promoting the transformation and development of the global automobile industry, and it has made important contributions to the climate change effort and green transformation, Jin noted. 

Zafrul noted that China and Malaysia have a good foundation for cooperation in the automobile industry. Through investing and building factories in Malaysia, Chinese enterprises have brought advanced technologies and promoted the development of the local component industry and employment, He said. 

Malaysia is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with China in the automobile, chip and other fields, and create favorable conditions for Chinese enterprises to expand locally, Zafrul said. 

China and Malaysia have established a solid foundation in industrial cooperation and remain closely connected in economic and trade cooperation, Zhou Shixin, director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

In addition to the automobile industry, Zhou highlighted strong bilateral cooperation in the energy and semiconductor sectors, with the momentum expected to expand to other industries such as the digital economy, the green economy and the blue economy, while cooperation has been boosted under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. 

Malaysia is one of the top destinations for Chinese investors in Southeast Asia because of its relatively good business environment, according to Zhou. 

China remained Malaysia's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years as of 2023, mainly importing products including integrated circuits, palm oil and various types of plastic, while exporting commodities such as computers and parts, clothing and textiles, according to China's Foreign Ministry. The two sides have also strengthened cooperation in finance and tourism. 

In the first five months of 2024, bilateral trade rose by 15.3 percent to 584.5 billion yuan ($80.55 billion), with China's imports surging 15.2 percent to 281.15 billion yuan and exports reaching 303.35 billion yuan, up 15.3 percent compared with last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. 

Global Times