New Chinese ambassador Yao Wen outlines four key priorities to deepen Malaysia-China ties

SEPANG, Nov 1 — Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Yao Wen has outlined four key priorities to deepen bilateral relations between China and Malaysia. The new ambassador emphasized the importance of strengthening political mutual trust, advancing economic cooperation, promoting people-to-people exchanges, and fostering multilateral coordination.

In his address upon arrival at KLIA, Yao highlighted the need to translate the consensus between the leaders of both nations into concrete actions. He outlined his priorities: first, strengthening political mutual trust and consolidating the longstanding friendship; second, advancing cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, trade, artificial intelligence (AI), and semiconductors; third, deepening people-to-people exchanges, leveraging visa-free policies and Visit Malaysia Year 2026 to enhance education, culture, healthcare, tourism, and sub-national level exchanges; and fourth, promoting stronger multilateral coordination to champion international fairness and justice.

As the first priority, Yao stressed the importance of boosting political mutual trust and preserving their long-standing friendship, noting that both nations are advancing through modernization - China through Chinese modernisation and Malaysia through the Malaysia Madani vision. In terms of economic cooperation, Yao aimed to bolster the Belt and Road Initiative, expand cooperation in traditional sectors like infrastructure and trade, and explore new opportunities in AI and semiconductors.

Yao also called for deeper people-to-people exchanges, underlining the significance of the close ties between the two peoples and the role of visa-free policies and Visit Malaysia Year 2026 in fostering closer relations in education, culture, healthcare, tourism, and sub-national exchanges. Lastly, he stressed the need for stronger multilateral coordination between Malaysia and China to promote international fairness and justice, highlighting the importance of upholding the international system with the United Nations at its core, advocating for international fairness and justice, and amplifying the voice of the Global South to forge a more equitable global governance system.