MALAYSIA: Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for closer cooperation with ASEAN countries

Record ID: 859359

  • Title: MALAYSIA: Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for closer cooperation with ASEAN countries
  • Date: 4th October 2013
  • Summary: PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA (OCTOBER 4, 2013) (REUTERS) CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING AND MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK ARRIVING FOR BILATERAL MEETING XI STANDING NAJIB AND MALAYSIAN DELEGATES SITTING DOWN XI LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS NAJIB LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS XI AND DELEGATES MEETING IN PROGRESS XI AND NAJIB ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CHINESE DELEGATES STANDING XI AND NAJIB STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING SAYING: "We agreed to work together to boost the ASEAN-China strategic partnership and continue to promote East Asia cooperation in the existing track. China will continue to provide firm support for the central role of ASEAN-East Asia cooperation. And we will be happy to see a greater role played by Malaysia in the region. We agreed to strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks, and committed to maintain and promote stability and prosperity in this region." MALAYSIAN DELEGATES STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK SAYING:. "In today's meeting we discussed about how we can achieve a new target in terms of our two-way trade between our two countries, which is set at 160 billion U.S. dollars by the year 2017." XI AND NAJIB WALK TO THE FRONT OF PODIUM XI AND NAJIB SHAKING HANDS
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malaysia
  • City:
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: General,Economy,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAY6XYD0MBMO3CY4DVLH1KU5KB
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (October 4) vowed to work closer with countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
    "We agreed to work together to boost the ASEAN-China strategic partnership and continue to promote East Asia cooperation in the existing track. China will continue to provide firm support for the central role of ASEAN-East Asia cooperation. And we will be happy to see a greater role played by Malaysia in the region. We agreed to strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks, and committed to maintain and promote stability and prosperity in this region," said Xi after a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Najib.
    Xi is in Malaysia for a three-day state visit hoping to boost economic and trade ties with the country.
    China and Malaysia set a new five-year target to reach bilateral trade of $160 billion by 2017. China is Malaysia's top trade partner, with bilateral trade hitting a record high of nearly $95 billion in 2012.
    "In today's meeting we discussed about how we can achieve a new target in terms of our two way trade between our two countries, which is set at 160 billion U.S. dollars by the year 2017," said Najib.
    China is one of the major trade partners to ASEAN, but also in the middle of territorial disputes with some of the member countries, including Malaysia.
    The South China Sea dispute is the largest military flashpoint between China and the region.
    China aims to achieve $1 trillion bilateral trade with the ASEAN to reach by 2020, Xi said in an address to Indonesian parliamentarians on Thursday (October 3).
    Malaysia is the second stop on Xi's first official trip to the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) region after he assumed office in March.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register