China To Strengthen Trade Ties With Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- China's investments have gained prominence in the last three years as the second largest economy in the world moves to build a stronger trade relationship with radzMalaysia. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd Group Economist, Suhaimi Ilias, said China, Malaysia's largest trading partner, contributed only one per cent to the country's total foreign direct investments (FDIs) compared to the US, Japan and Europe. "China's investments are small compared to Japan's 15 per cent, 17 per cent from the US and almost a third of the total FDIs coming from Europe," he said during a discussion on 'Asean-China Reset' at the Invest Asean 2017 conference here Wednesday. The conference is organised by Maybank Kim Eng Group. Also present were Maybank Kim Eng Group Senior Economist Chua Hak Bin and London School of Economics Adjunct Professor of Economics Linda Yueh. "There are many concerns on issues like the the presence of large Chinese developers in Malaysian real estate industry as well as China's huge participation in infrastructure projects. "I believe the Malaysian government is able to recognise and address such issues such as ensuring the involvement of local contents on agreements," he added. -- BERNAMA