Malaysian government, Chinese companies hold roundtable discussions on cooperation

NANNING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A roundtable dialogue between the Malaysian government and CEOs from China was held in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Tuesday.

About 150 representatives from the political and business circles of China and Malaysia attended this sub-event of the 21st China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

Malaysian government officials held talks with executives from five Chinese companies, discussing cooperation in fields such as green energy, digital economy, advanced manufacturing and financial services.

Zhang Shaogang, vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at the event that he hoped that entrepreneurs from the two countries would explore cooperation and contribute to greater synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Madani Economy Framework.

Li Lina, chief accountant with China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd., one of the five Chinese companies involved in the discussions, said the company will continue to work with Malaysian partners to push forward cooperation in new energy and green transport.

Malaysia is a core market for the international business of China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd., which has participated in 33 projects there over the past nearly 10 years, Li said.

Malaysia is committed to nurturing high-growth and high-value-added industries and has made great progress in areas such as integrated circuit design, electric vehicles, battery manufacturing and high-end solar panels, said Anthony Loke Siew Fook, the Malaysian transport minister.

Malaysia has also been focused on green transport and circular economy, Loke added, while calling on the two sides to continue cooperation and innovation in key areas such as digitalization, sustainable development and technology transfer.

Since its inception in 2009, the roundtable dialogue between political leaders of ASEAN member countries and CEOs from China has been successfully held 14 times, and has helped promote and materialize bilateral economic and trade cooperation projects worth 90 billion U.S. dollars.

Malaysia is the country of honor at the five-day 21st China-ASEAN Expo, which kicked off on Tuesday in Nanning. A total of 150 companies and 10 government agencies from Malaysia are attending the event.