Malaysia not overdependent on China, just look at Australia - Ambassador to China

Newly-minted Malaysian Ambassador to China Nushirwan Zainal Abidin (photo, above) said he is not too concerned over criticism that Malaysia too dependent on China's market.

This is because he said other countries are far more reliant on the Chinese market than Malaysia.

Citing Australia as an example, he told Sin Chew Daily in an interview that bilateral trade between Australia and China stood at 33 percent of its total trade volume, while the bilateral trade between Malaysia and China was only between 25 percent and 28 percent.

Economists had raised concerns on the growing reliance of Malaysia on China's market and also foreign direct investment from China back in the previous BN administration.

The previous government had denied that Malaysia was being "colonised" by China.

In January 2019, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Malaysia's reliance on the Chinese market and how it impacted the local electronic export sector.

Calling it a “lesson in over-reliance,” FT’s report said that the sector was facing a slowdown amid the lingering threat of a trade war between the US and China.

Bilateral trade between Malaysia and China climbed to an all-new high in 2018, rising 13 percent to US$108 billion from US$96 billion in the preceding year.

In July 2019, bilateral trade volume was reported to have reached US$ 100 billion.

China has remained Malaysia's biggest trading partner for 10 consecutive years and is also the biggest FDI contributor for three years, said Nushirwan, who was sworn in to his new post on July 17.

He said China's development in exploring 5G communication systems, artificial intelligence (AI), digital economy and big data should inspire Malaysians.

"Malaysians should be inspired by the giant leap taken by China in just 30 years," he said.

Nushirwan said that even the US is lagging by as much as two to three years behind China in the development of 5G network technology.

He said there are many technological developments in China worth learning and if Malaysia wants to develop 5G systems locally, connections should be built with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. - Mkini