M'SIA-CHINA AGREE TO ENHANCE STRATEGIC COOPERATION

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said today China
and Malaysia have agreed to work to enhance their strategic and cooperative
relationship.

Both countries agreed to maintain the high-level exchanges, take effective
measures to implement their joint action plan in strategic cooperation and work
together to explore new areas of cooperation.

"We both agree that we should work together to enhance our cooperation in
trade, investment, infrastructure development and finance and we should work
together to weather the impact of the global financial crisis and jointly
promote regional economic stability," he said at a joint news conference with
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak here Wednesday.

Hu is on a two-day visit to Malaysia beginning Tuesday. This is his second
visit to the country, the first being in 2002 when he was the republic's vice-
president.

He was accompanied by a 140-strong delegation which will attend the Apec
Summit in Singapore.

Hu said both countries also agreed to deepen their cooperation in
education, science and technology, culture and tourism and also to exchange
views on international and regional issues.

Besides that, they agreed to deepen trans-Asean relations to promote
cooperation in East Asia and enhance their communication and cognition at the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) and other multilateral frameworks to
make new contributions to the development of the Asia Pacific region.

Hu said the frienship between the peoples of the two countries had matured
over the past 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations and their
practical cooperation in all fields had yielded fruitful outcomes.

"Last year, the two-way trade volume topped US$53 billion and Malaysia has
become China's largest trade partner among Asean countries.

"The good progress made in China-Malaysia relations has served the
fundamental interests of both countries and their people and is also conducive
to peace, stability and prosperity in our region," he said.
-- BERNAMA