SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA

AT THE STATE BANQUET IN HONOUR OF

HIS EXCELLENCY XI JINPING

PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

 

16 APRIL 2025

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His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China

 

Excellencies, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen

 

It is a profound honour to welcome the President of the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Xi Jinping, back to Malaysia. This visit stands as a reaffirmation of a relationship grounded in respect, enriched by history and sustained by a shared sense of purpose.

 

Malaysia and China have long stood shoulder to shoulder – in moments of triumph and times of trial – not merely as comprehensive strategic partners, but as steadfast friends. Ours is a relationship forged in understanding and sustained by the enduring belief that we go further when we walk together – not only for ourselves, but for the peace and prosperity of our region.

 

More than a decade has passed since President Xi’s last visit. The world may have shifted in many ways, but the friendship between Malaysia and China has remained firm and steadfast – renewed through dialogue and affirmed through action.

 

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations over fifty years ago, Malaysia-China ties have grown broad in scope and deep in substance. China remains our most significant trading partner, its presence felt in the very arteries of our development – from the flow of goods and ideas to the transformation of our energy, infrastructure and innovation.

 

Yet the true strength of this relationship lies beyond trade figures or tourist statistics. It rests on a profound understanding – that prosperity, to endure, must be shared; and that trust, once cultivated, must be tended with care, patience and commitment.

 

Under your leadership, Mr President, China has outlined a series of global initiatives that reflect a distinctive worldview. The Belt and Road Initiative reimagines connectivity not as a network of roads and rails, but as a framework for cooperation. The Global Development Initiative underscores the importance of inclusive progress. The Global Security Initiative calls for peace through dialogue. And the Global Civilisation Initiative offers a timely reminder that respect for difference is not a barrier to harmony, but its precondition.

 

Each of these ideas reflects a broader aspiration: what President Xi has described as a “community with a shared future for mankind.” This brings to mind the famous saying of Kǒng Fūzǐ (孔夫子), that “Within the four seas, all men are brothers.”

 

With China, we have actualised this axiom in holding together civilizational dialogues such as Islam and Confucianism to strengthen further the bonds of understanding, underscoring the importance of stressing our commonalities in the pursuit of shared values of harmony and prosperity. These exchanges are all the more significant considering that there are others out there drumming up the clash of civilizations, sowing animosity and fomenting Islamophobia. 

 

And today, at a time when multilateralism is under tremendous strain – when some nations abandon the principle of shared responsibility and others question long-standing commitments – China’s global initiatives offer a new lease on hope. They look outward, not inward. They speak not of rivalry, but of renewal.

 

In some quarters, the rules-based order has been turned on its head — dialogue has yielded to demands, tariffs are imposed without restraint, and the language of cooperation is drowned beneath the noise of threats and coercion.

 

What we are witnessing today is not an honest reckoning with the imperfections of globalisation, but a retreat into economic tribalism. Market access is being weaponised. What was once a multilateral covenant for shared growth now buckles under the weight of arbitrary disruption and unilateral whim.

 

We call on all parties to pause, reflect, and step away from the precipice. Trade is not a contest of winners and losers, but a shared endeavour. Its aim is not domination, but the advancement of all. When the powerful bend or break the rules, it is not only prosperity that falters. Indeed, the very foundations of global peace can begin to tremble.

 

In these trying times, the world yearns for steadiness, reliability and purpose. We see this in China’s conduct. Malaysia acknowledges such steadiness with quiet recognition and is conscious not only of the calm it has brought, but of the hope it may continue to offer.

 

Decades of globalisation have created a web of interdependence – economic, cultural, and human – that cannot easily be unravelled. The ties that bind us may stretch, but they endure. As President Xi has graciously reminded us – during  his previous visit and again in his reflections for this one – in the Malay language, we say: “Air dicincang tidak akan putus.” Or, in another tongue: “You may cleave the water, yet it remains intact.”

 

Ladies and gentlemen

 

China is a civilisation whose history stretches back over five millennia – a nation that has withstood the tempests of time and emerged time and again not diminished – but refortified, yet refined. Her strength lies not only in the scale of her achievements but in her capacity to endure – to weather disruption with poise and to respond to uncertainty with purpose.

 

I have long held that the courage of conviction, and the tenacity of purpose, are the true measures of leadership. Under your stewardship, Mr President, China continues to embody these virtues – steady and resolute, unyielding even in the face of harsh winds and unreasonable treatment.

 

There is a Chinese proverb that speaks powerfully to this spirit:

"世上无难事，只怕有心人" (Shì shàng wú nán shì, zhǐ pà yǒu xīn rén),

“There is nothing difficult in the world, only those who lack the will.” It is a reminder that resilience defines a nation’s future, and that with determined hearts, even the hardest paths may be walked.

 

Amid this turbulence, China has been a rational, strong and reliable partner. Malaysia values this consistency. Malaysia will remain an unwavering and principled friend to China – guided by the wisdom of history and the promise of the future. Our foreign policy is shaped by a clear-eyed vision of our interests. We do not simply favour cooperation over confrontation – we embrace it. We do not merely prefer respect over rivalry – we uphold it. And we choose dialogue not simply because it suits us, but as a cornerstone of lasting peace.

 

Let it serve as a reminder that history is not written in haste, and that true partnerships are not built overnight, but over time – with care, courage and dedication.

 

May the friendship between Malaysia and China endure – deep as the seas, steady as the stars, and bright with the promise of tomorrow.

 

Thank you.