By CCTV correspondent Rian Maelzer

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- China and Malaysia have strong historical, cultural and economic ties. And President Xi’s visit to Malaysia is seen as another sign of the importance China places on strengthening ties with the ASEAN region. As CCTV correspondent Rian Maelzer reports from Kuala Lumpur, hopes are high that President Xi’s visit will further boost trade and investment between the two countries.

Next year will mark 40 years since Malaysia became the first ASEAN country to establish diplomatic ties with China. But in the past few years, the ties binding the two countries together have become tighter than ever.

China is now the biggest market for Malaysia’s exports, while Malaysia is China’s biggest trading partner among the 10 ASEAN countries, with two-way trade set to hit 100 billion dollars this year.

President Xi Jinping’s visit is expected not only to strengthen and deepen those trade ties, but also help boost foreign direct investment between the two countries and cooperation in other fields including security, culture, science and technology, and regional issues.

Chai Xi, China’s Ambassador to Malaysia, said, “President Xi, together with Malaysian leaders, is going to draw a comprehensive blue print for our cooperation in the coming years to identify the future direction and foster new impetus to the development of our bilateral relations.”

Rian Maelzer, Kuala Lumpur, said, “Since this is an official state visit, President Xi Jinping is set to be welcomed here at the royal palace by Malaysia’s king -- Tuanku Abdul Halim -- before meeting and signing memorandums of understanding with prime minister Najib Razak.”

President Xi is also expected to meet with Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, as well as with Chinese-Malaysian business and political leaders, before giving a speech to the 5th World Chinese Economic Forum here.

Analysts say that there’s plenty of opportunity for the two countries to boost collaboration not only within their own countries and the region, but beyond.

Michael Yeoh, CEO, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute, said, “Investing in third countries could be one interesting area where Malaysian and Chinese companies can set up joint ventures to go into, say, the Middle East or new markets in Africa or some other countries. That could be a potential area for new growth and development.”

After leaving Malaysia Saturday, President Xi will attend the economic leaders’ meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC forum in Bali next week.

(Source: CNTV.cn)