KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 – Leaders discuss stepping up trade, education, defence, financial services ties. Datuk Seri Najib Razak and China President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting in Boao here last night, the eve of the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia 2015. In the meeting, hours after the prime minister’s arrival for the annual forum, Najib and Xi discussed bilateral ties in a host of areas between the two nations, followed by a dinner.
The meeting and dinner at the Boao State Guest House were at Xi’s personal invitation — a testimony to the close working relationship between the two leaders. This was Najib’s fourth meeting with Xi since he became the prime minister in 2009, and his fifth visit to China since 2011. Also present were Special Envoy of the Prime Minister to China Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, of Foreign Affairs Ministry deputy secretary-general for Bilateral Affairs Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim and Malaysia’s Ambassador to China Datuk Zainuddin Yahya.
It is understood that during the meeting, Najib and Xi discussed bilateral ties in the areas of trade, education, financial services, infrastructure development and defence between the two nations. Over the years, Malaysia and China have been enjoyed a close working relationship, which has been upgraded from close strategic cooperation to a strategic comprehensive partnership. Last year, Malaysia and China celebrated their 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties and by 2017, both countries have targeted to achieve US$160 billion (RM586.4 billion) in trade value.
Earlier, Najib landed at the coastal city of Haikou’s Meilan International Airport about 4pm and was received by Zainuddin; Malaysia’s Consul-General to Guangzhou Muzambli Markam; Malaysia’s Trade Consul to Guangzhou Suresh Kumar, Hainan Vice-Governor Lu Chunhua and China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang. The prime minister was also accorded a 45-minute and specially arranged high-speed train ride from Meilan Airport Railway Station to Boao, the venue for the forum.
Today, Najib, along with other leaders, will deliver a speech after Xi’s keynote address at the opening of the forum. His speech is expected to be tailored to the forum’s theme, while touching on the visions of Asean as an economic community. Malaysia is the Asean chairman this year. The prime minister is also slated to hold meetings with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov on the sidelines of the forum before leaving for Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon.
Theis year’s forum, themed “Asia’s New Future: Toward a Community of Common Destiny”, is the first for Najib and will be attended by 16 leaders and senior government officials from Asian, European and African countries. The event, the 14th since its inception in 2002 and modelled after the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is a platform to discuss economic cooperation within Asia and other parts of the world.
