An economic and trade delegation from Hunan Province visited Malaysia from November 27 to 29. The aim was to thoroughly implement the guiding principles of President Xi Jinping's important speech delivered at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and contribute to building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future.

During their visit, the delegation attended the 2nd Hunan Equipment and Manufacturing AEASN Investment Expo and the 2023 Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition (CICEE) Southeast Asia Sub-exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The delegation held discussion with the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Malaysia and called on the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia and the Selangor State Government. They visited branches of Sany, Zoomlion, CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Co., Ltd. in Malaysia.

The 2nd Hunan Equipment and Manufacturing AEASN Investment Expo and the 2023 Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition (CICEE) Southeast Asia Sub-exhibition opened on November 29 and lasted for three days. With a total area of 12,000 square meters, the sub-exhibition has six exhibition areas displaying concrete machinery, hoisting machinery, tunnel boring machinery, earthmoving machinery, construction machinery, and engineering machinery accessories. More than 500 guests and enterprises from Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and other countries attended the opening ceremony. Meanwhile, the Southeast Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference of Changsha Construction Machinery Industry was held, and seven cooperation agreements worth 133 million yuan signed.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Malaysia. Over the past 10 years, the economic and trade cooperation between Hunan and Malaysia has made steady progress and maintained a good momentum. Hunan has set up a total of 43 overseas investment enterprises in Malaysia, with a contract value of 750 million USD for foreign direct investment from the Chinese side. In 2022, the import and export volume between Hunan and Malaysia reached 38 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 80.5%. In the first nine months of this year, the import and export volume between the two sides was 26.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.38%. Malaysia has become an important trading partner and an investment destination for Hunan within ASEAN.

China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors separated by the sea and have established a strong partnership for common development. In 2024, China and Malaysia will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Hunan will further seize the new opportunities arising from the opening up of the RCEP region to further expand and deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Malaysia, helping complement industrial advantages and achieve win-win development of the two countries. Hunan will make every effort to build a hub of reform and opening up in inland regions.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn