China-Malaysia friendship is far more important, says Li
21.08.2018 (The Star Online) - CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang has emphasised that the China-Malaysia friendship is far more important than the “joint cooperation issue” of the two nations while promising to increase imports from Malaysia.
Li said the relationship between the two countries would remain unchanged.
“We will continue to uphold this long-standing relationship and together, we work towards the mutual benefit of both countries,” he said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday.
Dr Mahathir’s visit to China came amid Putrajaya’s decision to renegotiate deals with China on some multibillion-ringgit infrastructure projects. However, both leaders did not touch on the projects throughout the presser.
Li said he and Dr Mahathir had a deep and honest talk during their closed-door meeting earlier.
“Here, I want to reiterate that the Chinese government is upholding the good friendship with Malaysia,” he said.
He pointed out that China would increase its import from Malaysia to include commodities other than palm oil.
China is the third largest buyer of Malaysian palm oil and palm oil-related products, after India and the European Union.
Earlier, both leaders witnessed the signing of five memorandums of understanding (MoU) in the fields of agriculture, technology, commodity and finance.
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub and China’s General Administration of Customs Minister Ni Yuefeng signed an MoU on the protocol of inspection and quarantine requirements for frozen durians export from Malaysia to China.
Malaysian Palm Oil Board director-general Datuk Dr Ahmad Kushairi Din and Tsinghua University vice-president Prof Dr Bin Yang signed another on technology development and promotion of Malaysian palm biofuel.
The other MoUs were on the Chinese yuan-Malaysian ringgit bilateral currency swap agreement, accounting and audit cross-border regulatory cooperation, as well as collaboration in the area of rubberised bitumen road technology and rubber tapping automation and mechanisation.