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Joseph Sipalan

Malaysia has invited China to join a summit with Southeast Asian and Arab states next year, aiming to widen Asean’s pool of economic partners as it prepares to take on the bloc’s chairmanship in 2025.
Speaking at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said China’s inclusion in the annual summit between Asean and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next year would be “of great consequence to the trajectory of regional growth”.
The GCC comprises the oil and gas-rich kingdoms of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Anwar emphasised that this three-way cooperation would help narrow the economic gap between the East and Western developed nations.
“As Asean chair next year, Malaysia aims to enhance regional cooperation and inclusive, rules-based regional framework,” he said.
Global supply chains have been thrown into turmoil by a US-led trade war on China since 2018, aimed at addressing what the US and its allies claim to be unfair trade practices by the Asian giant.

This has had a knock-on effect for Southeast Asia, where companies from the world’s two largest economies have sought sanctuary from damaging tariffs.
With Tuesday’s US presidential election likely to bring more tariffs and unpredictability – irrespective of whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris makes it to the White House – Southeast Asian economies are seeking fresh partnerships to balance out the volatility.
Malaysia, along with Southeast Asian neighbours Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, was recently formally included as a partner country in the China-led Brics grouping of nations.
Observers have raised concerns that a perceived tilt towards China by Anwar, who is on his third official visit since taking power in November 2022, could undercut Malaysia’s stated position as a “neutral” nation and damage Western interests in the country’s semiconductor sector.
The US is Malaysia’s largest source of foreign investment, with multibillion-dollar deals announced over the past three years by tech giants such as Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia and most recently Oracle.
Once the darling of the West when he was in opposition, Anwar raised eyebrows after announcing in June Malaysia’s plan to join Brics, which is seen as a growing counterweight to Western economic dominance.
China is the largest economy in Brics, named after the original members that also include Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. It also counts the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia as full members.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for the past 15 years, buying more than 192 billion ringgit (US$44.7 billion) in Malaysian products, predominantly in the electrical, electronic, palm oil, iron and steel sectors in 2023.


China also accounted for one-fifth of Malaysia’s total imports that same year, worth 258.6 billion ringgit, led by electrical and electronics products and machinery that are vital to Malaysia’s important manufacturing sector.
Anwar said Malaysia, along with other nations across Asia, Africa and Latin America, are supportive of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of a “shared future” that benefits all countries and upholds global peace and security through unfettered sharing of experiences, expertise and technologies.
He said this was “precisely the reason why we in Malaysia agreed to participate in Brics”, adding that multilateral free trade and sustainability goals should push equitable global progress instead of curbing competition or creating conflict.
“We are leaving no stone unturned, as you have seen here in China, in promoting good governance and combating and rooting out corruption, as well as implementing socio-economic and industrial reform agendas,” Anwar said.


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‘Great consequence’: Malaysia invites China to join Asean summit with Gulf bloc

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks at the opening ceremony of the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, China, on November 5. Photo: Reuters

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks at the opening ceremony of the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on November 5. Photo: Reuters

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks during the closing ceremony of the Asean summits in Laos earlier this month. Photo: AFP

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Indonesia’s Brics bid raises questions about Asean’s future under Prabowo

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Southeast Asia

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says China’s presence at the Asean-GCC summit could help boost regional growth.
