Xi meets Malaysian prime minister

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is here to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday met with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is here to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Xi said China and Malaysia should take joint pursuit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an opportunity to create a bright future for the China-Malaysia relations.

The BRI will push forward China's all-round opening-up, which will bring about bigger opportunities for all countries in the world, especially for the neighboring countries, he said.

The two sides should strengthen planning, enlarge the cooperation platform and promote high-quality cooperation, Xi said, adding that the two joint industrial parks in Qinzhou, China and Kuantan, Malaysia should be well built into an important connecting point for the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, promoting connectivity and development of the two countries and the region.

He said the two sides should strengthen multilateral coordination, and improve and upgrade the China-ASEAN cooperation.

China supports Malaysia in hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting next year, and promoting regional economic integration, economic globalization and the building of an open world economy, Xi said.

Mahathir said the BRI is a great initiative with huge potential, which will not only help deal with the infrastructure and transport bottlenecks that are impeding the development of different countries, but also address the problem of unbalanced development among countries and promote cultural dialogue and exchanges.

The international community should better know and understand the Belt and Road, which will be beneficial to the world, he said.

Malaysia supports the BRI and looks forward to accelerating its own development by jointly building the Belt and Road, he said, adding that Malaysia is willing to enhance cooperation in international and regional affairs with China and jointly push forward ASEAN-China relations.