Since 1974, a sort of mythology has grown up around how Malaysia’s current strong relations with China began to take shape in that year, when Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak became the first ASEAN leader to normalize relations with it.
China has always placed ASEAN squarely on the first page of its foreign cooperation agenda, regarding ASEAN as a priority in its foreign policy and a key region for the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) and China established official diplomatic relations in 1976, which is reaching its peak in 2018, and likely to continue to grow.
This is a first in the history of China’s automobile industry and a breakthrough since diplomatic relations were established between China and South Africa.
Numerous influential local news media of the UAE and African countries followed closely and covered extensively Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit.
Why President Xi‘s speech was filled with trust and hope? What is the “Golden Decade”? What are the challenges? How can we reach there?
“China got Sri Lanka to cough up a port,” said the New York Times in a widely quoted article published on June 25, 2018.The article claimed, “Every time Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa turned to his Chinese allies for loans and assistance with an ambitious port project, the answer was yes.
This by itself makes it a key international event – a type of equivalent of a G7 for developing countries. But BRICS represents a greater proportion of world economic growth than the advanced G7 economies.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – under which China is connecting itself with its “natural partners” along the Silk Road trading routes of the past – continues to be a guide for the Arab world and the Middle East.
The visit was widely welcomed by African development experts as an opportunity for new cooperation between China and the African continent.
During this year’s review China received 1,963 written questions from 42 members, and had answered 1,627 questions from 33 members before July 11, with the remaining questions submitted after June 28 to be answered within one month.
China’s economic rise and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economic association have provided the African continent with a range of new development partners and opportunities unmatched in its post-colonial history.