The China-Malaysia International Seminar, held every year since 2016, serves as a platform for experts and scholars from countries involved in the Belt and Road to discuss the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The fourth China-Malaysia International Seminar on the Maritime Silk Road was held at Huaqiao University in Xiamen, Fujian province on Nov 9. 

The seminar, which gathered 45 experts and scholars from countries such as China, Malaysia, and the Philippines, focused on China-Malaysia relations under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. 

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. Over the past 45 years, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries grew rapidly, and the total value of trade between them exceeded $100 billion in 2018, nearly 630 times more than in 1974, according to Tan Kok Wai, Malaysia's special envoy to China and chairman of the Malaysia China Business Council.

Tan said that Malaysia and other ASEAN countries are an essential part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and are expected to benefit from the BRI. He added that overseas Chinese entrepreneurs serve as a bridge between China and ASEAN countries, and that both sides should strengthen cooperation in order to further cement people-to-people bonds.

The seminar, jointly sponsored by Huaqiao University and Malaysia's Southern University College, has been held annually since 2016 and has helped China and Malaysia increase exchanges and pragmatic cooperation in a number of fields.