Ahmad Zahid arrives in Shanghai for third leg of China visit

SHANGHAI: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived here on Saturday (May 25) to continue his official visit to China.

On arrival at 12.40pm at the hotel he was staying, Ahmad Zahid, accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis, was received by Malaysian Consul-General in Shanghai Syed Farizal Aminy Syed Mohamad.

Ahmad Zahid, who was also Rural and Regional Development Minister, was visiting China from May 22 to June 1 at the invitation of Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang.

This was his first official visit to China since being appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in December 2022.

Ahmad Zahid kicked off his China visit in Hong Kong last Wednesday (May 22) where he made a courtesy call to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive Officer John Lee Ka-chiu, followed by his trip to the Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen on Friday (May 24).

In Shanghai, Ahmad Zahid was scheduled to witness the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between Malaysian and Chinese companies in the fields of high technology and education and interact with the Malaysian community in China.

He would leave for Beijing on Tuesday (May 28) to wind up his visit to China, where he was scheduled to call on Premier Li Qiang and hold talks with Xuexiang and State Councillor and Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong.

Ahmad Zahid would host a gala reception and grace the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Establishment of Malaysia-China Diplomatic Relations, jointly organised by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing.

He was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin on the visit.

According to a Wisma Putra statement issued earlier, Ahmad Zahid’s visit is to strengthen bilateral relations, and he was expected to explore opportunities for cooperation, especially in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), halal industry development and people-to-people exchanges.

Malaysia and China established diplomatic relations on May 31, 1974, and this was the highest level of visits involving top leaders in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China ties.

In 2023, Malaysia’s trade with China amounted to RM450.84bil (US$98.80bil), contributing 17.1% to Malaysia’s global trade and in the same year, 64 manufacturing projects with investments of RM12bil (US$2.6bil) were approved.

China was the fifth largest investor and these projects are expected to create 9,305 jobs. – BK