Xi sees bright future with longtime friend

President aims to deepen collaboration with Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation where Chinese have left an indelible mark

Over three decades ago, when President Xi Jinping — who was then the top official of Fuzhou, Fujian province — took an investment promotion trip to Malaysia, he was deeply impressed by two symbolic sites.

One is the Poh San Teng Temple, a long-standing homage to renowned Chinese navigator Zheng He (1371-1433), who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The other is the city of Sibu, which became known as "New Fuzhou" after Wong Nai Siong, a Fuzhou native, migrated to Malaysia with over 1,000 Chinese people more than a century ago.

Both places testify to the millennium-old China-Malaysia friendship, a bond that Xi has repeatedly pledged to inherit and cement as China's head of state.