By China-ASEAN Centre (ACC)

F rom October 21-25, 2018, the China-ASEAN Centre (ACC) organized a delegation of“Chinese Media Reporting Trip to ASEAN” to visit Malaysia.The delegation interviewed Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Mr.Bai Tian, the Chinese Consul General to Kota Kinabalu Mr.Liang Caide,Malaysian Minister of Finance Mr.Lim Guan Eng and Senior Director of Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations Division of Ministry of Trade and Industry of Malaysia Mme.Datuk Bahria binti Mohd Tamil.The delegation also visited Sin Chew Daily and The Star newspaper and had discussions with representatives of local media organizations such as Kota Kinabalu Journalist Association.ACC Secretary-General Mr.Chen Dehai and Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division Mr.Wang Zhiquan were present at relevant events.

In the interview, Ambassador Bai Tian gave a brief i ng on Malaysia and the development of China-Malaysia relations.He said that China-Malaysia friendship has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and the two countries enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges.Malaysia is the first ASEAN Member State to establish diplomatic relations with China.It is among the first countries to participate in the joint building of the Belt and Road.It is also among the countries that benefited the most from the earlyharvest cooperation results in jointly building the Belt and Road.China is committed to pursuing a friendly policy towards Malaysia.The two sides have a solid foundation in cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, connectivity, education, tourism, etc.,which has produced fruitful outcomes.

Mr.Lim Guan Eng said in the interview that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China helps improve infrastructure and enhance connectivity among the countries along the Belt and Road, bringing benef i ts to the neighbouring countries.The Malaysian government sincerely hoped to see the BRI be successfully promoted,as neighbouring countries and China would share the benefits.Investors from all over the world, including China, are welcome to invest in Malaysia, and the country is looking forward to more Chinese tourists.

The “Chinese Media Reporting Trip to ASEAN” is an annual flagship project of ACC.The previous trips took place in seven ASEAN countries including LAO PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.This year the delegation was composed of journalists from eight media organizations, namely People’s Daily Online, Xinhua News Online,China Report, Sina, Global Times Online, the21st Century Business Herald, Anhui Radio and Television andThe World & ChongqingMagazine.