China may be invited to build a third port on Malacca in cooperation with Malaysia, the Malaysian Minister of Transport has said.

According to the minister, Liow Tiong Lai, the country plans to work with China to build a third port on Carey Island, which is located between the Strait of Malacca and Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur-based Oriental Daily News reported on Sunday.

Some 70 to 80 percent of the ships passing through the Strait of Malacca come from China. The ministry is therefore encouraging China to participate in the port construction, which will stretch across 120 kilometers. The construction would be jointly funded by China and Malaysia, Liow said.

Liow has previously stated that the port administration will be entrusted to local Malaysian authorities.

The minister said China is Malaysia’s first choice for the project, as the relatively large volume of ships from China will help the port to successfully develop. He added that local port authorities hopes to attract more Chinese companies to be stationed in the free trade zone of Port Klang, Oriental Daily News reported.

Liow noted that Malaysia is willing to actively join and participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the two countries' cooperation, spanning six Malaysian ports and 10 Chinese ports, can boost the freight and other related industries of both nations. Liow added that investment in projects under the the Belt and Road Initiative could yield up to 640 billion Malaysian Ringgit worth of bilateral trade by 2018 or 2019.

According to Liow, Port Klang is the world’s 12th largest container port. It is expected to reach its maximum load capacity of 16.3 million containers by 2020, pushing the port to expand.