KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein will be making a two-day official visit to China starting tomorrow at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said Hishammuddin, who will be undertaking his first official visit the republic since assuming office as a minister on March 10, 2020, will be co-chairing a bilateral meeting between the Malaysian and China delegations with Wang Yi during the visit.

Wang Yi, who is also State Councillor, made an official visit to Malaysia in October 2020.

"Both sides will be discussing initiatives to further develop the mutually beneficial cooperation, focusing on the post-pandemic agenda such as facilitating cross border travels, and strengthening vaccine cooperation.

"Malaysia and China have developed substantial, multi-faceted and comprehensive strategic partnership. The visit is crucial to allow the redoubling of bilateral activities and connectivity,” said the statement.

The statement added that the two foreign ministers will be discussing a range of regional and international issues of mutual concern, taking stock from the 23rd Asean — China Summit, besides revisiting the essence of the Asean-China Year of Sustainable Development Cooperation, strengthening partnership in Blue Economy, as well as deliberating on the prevailing security situation in the region.

It said the visit of Hishammuddin will be conducted in strict compliance with the health and safety Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) set by the Ministry of Health of Malaysia and the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

"This includes travelling in a safe bubble, restriction on movement throughout the visit, limiting the number of engagements, and observing all the health and safety requirements,” it said.

Bilateral relations between Malaysia and China have grown steadily and significantly last year (2020) despite the challenges of Covid-19 with bilateral trade between both countries expanding by 4.2 per cent reaching RM329.77 billion in total.

China stood as Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years and accounted 18.6 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, while exports to China contributing 16.2 per cent to Malaysia’s total exports in 2020.

Malaysia and China elevated their relations from "Strategic Cooperation” to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” in 2013, marking a new chapter in the historic ties between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. — Bernama