Angeline Tan was quoted in Nikkei Asia, 16 April 2025
By NORMAN GOH
Beijing’s leader also calls on Malaysia to ‘safeguard’ region’s bright prospects
KUALA LUMPUR — President Xi Jinping on Wednesday stressed that China would stand with Malaysia and other Asian nations to combat unilateralism and protectionism, as the Trump administration’s U.S. tariff policies cloud economic prospects in the region.
Xi was in Malaysia for a three-day state visit, his first trip to the Southeast Asian country since 2013.
“In the face of shocks to global order and economic globalization, China and Malaysia will stand with countries in the region to combat the undercurrents of geopolitical and camp-based confrontation, as well as the countercurrent of unilateralism and protectionism,” Xi said during his dinner party speech. “Together, we will safeguard the bright prospects of our Asian family.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also touched on the recent trade tensions in his dinner speech. “Trade is not a contest of winners and losers, but a shared endeavor. … What we are witnessing today is not an honest reckoning with the imperfections of globalization, but a retreat into economic tribalism,” he said, adding that trade tariffs are being weaponized.
“China has been a rational, strong and reliable partner. Malaysia values this consistency,” Anwar said.
The two countries, on the same day, exchanged a total of 31 memoranda of understanding (MOU) and bilateral agreements, spanning security, trade, infrastructure, digital economy, education, and cultural cooperation, highlighting further collaboration in various areas.
“China-Malaysia relations are now entering a new golden era,” Xi told Anwar at the beginning of their meeting earlier in the day.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trade partner for 16 consecutive years through 2024, with the value of last year’s total exports and imports reaching about 480 billion ringgit ($109 billion), according to official data.
In 2024, Malaysia welcomed 3.29 million tourists from China, a significant rise from 1.47 million in 2023, driven by the introduction of a 30-day visa-free policy for Chinese nationals in December 2023 and enhanced flight connectivity between the two countries.
In an opinion piece published in local newspapers on Tuesday, Xi called on Malaysia to keep a firm grip on the strategic help that “guides the ship of friendship” between the two countries. Malaysia was among the first Southeast Asian countries to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1974.
Earlier on Wednesday, Xi had an audience with Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur and was given the full state honor in welcoming his visit with a 21-gun salute at the palace grounds. The king later hosted the Chinese president for a state banquet at noon.
Xi was on a Southeast Asia tour, stopping in Hanoi to meet with the Vietnamese Communist Party’s top officials before moving to Malaysia. He is slated to head to Cambodia on Thursday to conclude the trip.
The trip comes at a critical time for both China and Southeast Asia, with Vietnam and Cambodia among the countries hit hardest by the tariffs Trump announced earlier this month. Malaysia, meanwhile, is this year’s ASEAN chair, leading the bloc’s response to Washington’s measures. Last week, the 10-member bloc’s economic ministers issued a joint statement criticizing the new U.S. tariffs.
Angeline Tan, an analyst from the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, explained that this is an opportunity for China to demonstrate its commitment to Southeast Asia, following China’s isolation from the pandemic period and also in the context of intensifying major power rivalry.
“This doesn’t mean that they are pro-China countries, but that they have the potential to play a key role in China’s ability to grow influence in the region,” she said.
She added that Malaysia holds a strategically important position in ASEAN right now, pointing out that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar is seen as one of the most senior statesmen in the region.
“With geopolitical sensitivities in mind, Malaysia needs to be decisive in what kinds of investments and cooperation it wants from China or any other partners to meet its development goals,” Tan explained, saying that deepening ties economically should not just be reflected in the number of investments, but it should reveal the quality of cooperation between the two countries.
Ilango Karuppannan, former Malaysian diplomat and foreign policy analyst, told Nikkei Asia that Xi’s Southeast Asia visit is a move to “consolidate influence” in the region amid intensifying rivalry with the U.S.
“China attempts to offset growing U.S. security engagement with other ASEAN members like the Philippines and Vietnam. This is part of China’s broader effort to frame its role as a stable economic partner amid global uncertainty,” he said, pointing out that the visit sends a message that China still has strong diplomatic sway despite pushback from the West.
Ilango said that Xi’s visit could spur the U.S. and ASEAN’s other partners, like Japan and India, to step up economic and strategic engagement with ASEAN. “The bloc’s response to the visit will reveal whether it can balance both superpowers while preserving autonomy,” he added.
This article first published in Nikkei Asia, 16 April 2025
