China to grant ¥50bn RQFII quota to Malaysia

China will grant a 50-billion yuan (8.2 billion U.S. dollars) quota to Malaysia under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) program, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here Monday.

Li, who is paying his first official visit to the Southeast Asian country as premier, pledged several other moves to strengthen financial cooperation with Malaysia when addressing a bilateral high-level economic forum.

He called for joint efforts from both China and Malaysia to stabilize the financial market and boost investment and trade cooperation to tackle global financial instability and other economic woes.

The Chinese premier hoped that China's development and growing internal demand could unleash business opportunities for Malaysian enterprises.

In the next five years, Li noted, China is expected to import foreign goods totaling 10 trillion dollars.

"A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first," he quoted a Chinese saying, vowing that China, close in distance and culture with Malaysia, will open wider its economy to Malaysia.

China and Malaysia are complementary in economy, Li said, adding that China welcomes Malaysian companies to invest and develop on its soil, which will promote two-way investment and the development of both economies.

Noting that China will expand trade in services with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in an upgrade of their free trade agreement (FTA), Li said Malaysia has advantages in this area.

The expansion will be conducive to raising the level of bilateral trade between China and Malaysia, he said.

In addition, Li said that to create a safe environment for economic development, China is also ready to join efforts with Malaysia and other countries to address terrorism among other global challenges.

In conclusion of his speech, Li hailed the Malaysian cuisine as a perfect combination of Chinese and local flavors, calling for efforts from enterprises of both countries to cook a grand dish of practical cooperation to benefit the two peoples.

China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for seven consecutive years, and Malaysia is now China's top trading partner in ASEAN, with annual bilateral trade volume topping 100 billion dollars.