Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, June 18, 2024. Li arrived here Tuesday for an official visit to Malaysia at the invitation of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday for an official visit to Malaysia, the third and last leg of his eight-day tour that has taken him to New Zealand and Australia.

Li said upon arrival that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 50 years ago, China-Malaysia relations have maintained sound development, as strategic mutual trust has been continuously consolidated, cultural and people-to-people exchanges have become ever closer, and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has yielded fruitful results, which have brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and contributed to regional peace and development.

Li noted that last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reached an important consensus on jointly building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, opening a new chapter in China-Malaysia relations.

China is willing to work hand in hand with Malaysia, taking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties as a new starting point to further strengthen the alignment of development strategies, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, enhance civilization exchanges and mutual learning, and continuously push forward the building of the China-Malaysia community with a shared future, so as to make greater contributions to peace, stability, development, and prosperity in the region and worldwide, Li said.

Li arrived in Kuala Lumpur after concluding an official visit to Australia and holding the ninth China-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

During his stay in Malaysia, Li will have talks with Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Prime Minister Anwar, and attend an event commemorating the 50th anniversary.