The Honourable Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and His Excellency Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), this morning held a telephone conversation to renew their working relations and friendship, as well as to share updates and exchange views on current regional and international affairs.
Both Foreign Ministers reaffirmed the commitment of both nations towards closer cooperation and enhancing bilateral ties. Other than building on existing foundations to further deepen and broaden the multifaceted cooperation, Malaysia and the PRC will continue to expand bilateral cooperation into new areas, especially in new technology and industries e.g. digital economy and cyber security, for the mutual benefits of our two peoples. Both Ministers also discussed regional and international issues, including the latest developments in the South China Sea.
At the same time, His Excellency Minister Wang Yi also conveyed the decision by the Government of the PRC to contribute an additional one million doses of CoronaVac COVID-19 (Sinovac) vaccine to Malaysia, on the basis of the deep friendship between the two countries and peoples. Earlier, the PRC Government had in July 2021 donated 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines to help the Malaysia’s National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.
YB Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah expressed Malaysia’s appreciation to the Government of the PRC for this latest contribution. Malaysia and the PRC have been working hand in hand since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PRC showed solidarity with Malaysia by donating medical supplies such as face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, distributed through government and private channels, besides sending a team of health experts from Guangzhou to share their experiences and best practices in patient and data management. Meanwhile, Malaysia had also contributed USD1 million, 18 million pieces of rubber gloves, and 15 tonnes of food items to the PRC during the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
Both Governments also signed the Agreement on Cooperation in Vaccine Development and Accessibility and the Memorandum of Understanding on Post Pandemic Cooperation on 18 November 2020 and 1 April 2021 respectively. The PRC Government has also listed Malaysia as a priority recipient of Chinese made vaccines in October 2020.
This reflects the shared commitment between Putrajaya and Beijing towards effectively addressing the pandemic and the full recovery of both nations.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia