Mahathir says China will sympathise with Malaysia's fiscal problems

Record ID: 1145687

  • Title: Mahathir says China will sympathise with Malaysia's fiscal problems
  • Date: 20th August 2018
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (AUGUST 20, 2018) (REUTERS) MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR MOHAMAD AND CHINESE PREMIER LI KEQIANG WALKING INTO THE ROOM FOR SIGNING CEREMONY MAHATHIR AND LI STANDING DELEGATES SITTING DOWN DELEGATES SHAKING HANDS AND EXCHANGING DOCUMENTS MALAYSIAN DELEGATION STANDING MAHATHIR AND LI LEAVING MAHATHIR AND LI WALKING INTO THE ROOM FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA S
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2018 07:53
  • Keywords: Trade Mahathir Malaysia China Li Keqiang Chinese-funded projects in Malaysia infrastructure deals
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Government/Politics,International Trade
  • Reuters ID: LVA0018TZRJ2D
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday (August 20) he believed China would sympathise with his country's "internal fiscal problems" as he seeks to renegotiate, or potentially cancel, more than $20 billion in Chinese-funded projects.
    Mahathir did not mention the projects in question but he vowed repeatedly before his China visit to discuss the "unfair" Chinese infrastructure deals authorised by former premier Najib Razak.
    Najib courted Chinese investment and was a cheerleader for President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia during his decade-long rule, but Mahathir has questioned the value of the deals and the risk that they would leave Malaysia "indebted" to Beijing.
    Li said China hoped that a further expansion in trade ties with Malaysia would result in greater balance in two-way trade and that China was ready to increase "to a fairly large extent" imports of palm oil and other agricultural produce to meet the needs of Chinese consumers. China is Malaysia's third-largest export market after India and the European Union.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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