The Prague Post - China's Xi begins Malaysia visit in shadow of Trump tariffs

EUR -
AED 4.125022
AFN 78.877894
ALL 97.636284
AMD 437.153444
ANG 2.02409
AOA 1027.60546
ARS 1249.38303
AUD 1.755644
AWG 2.024326
AZN 1.911897
BAM 1.943884
BBD 2.265305
BDT 136.3099
BGN 1.956151
BHD 0.423323
BIF 3337.604386
BMD 1.123066
BND 1.454754
BOB 7.752581
BRL 6.35824
BSD 1.121967
BTN 95.995407
BWP 15.202555
BYN 3.671077
BYR 22012.088851
BZD 2.253596
CAD 1.563549
CDF 3228.813776
CHF 0.933666
CLF 0.027554
CLP 1057.377972
CNY 8.114543
CNH 8.130749
COP 4776.005595
CRC 570.227431
CUC 1.123066
CUP 29.761243
CVE 109.597573
CZK 24.915196
DJF 199.591484
DKK 7.460784
DOP 65.958327
DZD 149.523865
EGP 56.852989
ERN 16.845986
ETB 151.224076
FJD 2.551379
FKP 0.841529
GBP 0.848151
GEL 3.094002
GGP 0.841529
GHS 14.809418
GIP 0.841529
GMD 80.295402
GNF 9715.832554
GTQ 8.631513
GYD 234.743452
HKD 8.731578
HNL 29.146504
HRK 7.537795
HTG 146.802733
HUF 405.645177
IDR 18590.107487
ILS 4.022256
IMP 0.841529
INR 96.676477
IQD 1469.749524
IRR 47295.107449
ISK 146.683501
JEP 0.841529
JMD 178.058525
JOD 0.796591
JPY 163.773871
KES 145.010366
KGS 98.212095
KHR 4492.54133
KMF 486.847091
KPW 1010.732476
KRW 1576.53708
KWD 0.344736
KYD 0.935023
KZT 579.426569
LAK 24246.559277
LBP 100522.254683
LKR 335.683798
LRD 224.387522
LSL 20.414362
LTL 3.316121
LVL 0.679331
LYD 6.127684
MAD 10.364284
MDL 19.324458
MGA 5029.416657
MKD 61.552445
MMK 2357.954071
MNT 4013.91157
MOP 8.981743
MRU 44.471593
MUR 50.886394
MVR 17.305779
MWK 1945.581731
MXN 21.932797
MYR 4.817961
MZN 71.783405
NAD 20.414182
NGN 1808.281698
NIO 41.288926
NOK 11.713458
NPR 153.588574
NZD 1.902838
OMR 0.43233
PAB 1.121977
PEN 4.099571
PGK 4.655648
PHP 62.5065
PKR 315.756064
PLN 4.253728
PYG 8962.420679
QAR 4.089695
RON 5.11747
RSD 116.510475
RUB 92.651313
RWF 1605.551112
SAR 4.212491
SBD 9.378552
SCR 15.93072
SDG 674.402811
SEK 10.940182
SGD 1.460272
SHP 0.882553
SLE 25.52765
SLL 23550.10917
SOS 641.200926
SRD 40.718971
STD 23245.193724
SVC 9.817215
SYP 14601.963854
SZL 20.402932
THB 37.083542
TJS 11.585084
TMT 3.941961
TND 3.369481
TOP 2.630331
TRY 43.505999
TTD 7.62066
TWD 34.011039
TZS 3037.892428
UAH 46.623174
UGX 4109.01353
USD 1.123066
UYU 46.862945
UZS 14483.283896
VES 102.309286
VND 29158.7178
VUV 135.488093
WST 2.975783
XAF 651.972109
XAG 0.03458
XAU 0.000338
XCD 3.035141
XDR 0.807091
XOF 651.986534
XPF 119.331742
YER 274.584042
ZAR 20.461258
ZMK 10108.934559
ZMW 29.757985
ZWL 361.626716
  • JRI

    -0.0760

    12.95

    -0.59%

  • SCS

    0.5700

    10.48

    +5.44%

  • NGG

    -2.3900

    70.18

    -3.41%

  • CMSC

    -0.0500

    22.11

    -0.23%

  • BTI

    -1.1500

    43.3

    -2.66%

  • RIO

    -0.8400

    59.18

    -1.42%

  • GSK

    -0.3000

    36.87

    -0.81%

  • BCC

    2.4800

    89.58

    +2.77%

  • AZN

    -2.7700

    67.3

    -4.12%

  • BCE

    0.9800

    22.23

    +4.41%

  • RBGPF

    2.8600

    65.86

    +4.34%

  • RYCEF

    0.4300

    10.6

    +4.06%

  • VOD

    -0.1500

    9.25

    -1.62%

  • BP

    0.4600

    28.59

    +1.61%

  • CMSD

    -0.0800

    22.33

    -0.36%

  • RELX

    -0.8100

    54.06

    -1.5%

China's Xi begins Malaysia visit in shadow of Trump tariffs
China's Xi begins Malaysia visit in shadow of Trump tariffs / Photo: Farhan ABDULLAH - MALAYSIA'S DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION/AFP

China's Xi begins Malaysia visit in shadow of Trump tariffs

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday for a highly anticipated state visit that comes as Beijing fights an escalating trade war with the United States.

Text size:

Xi embarked this week on a Southeast Asia tour that has already taken him to Vietnam and will also include Cambodia, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to US President Donald Trump's punitive tariff regime.

The Chinese leader touched down at the airport in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, where he was greeted by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, footage from Chinese state broadcaster CGTN showed.

Xi said he was "looking forward to... further deepening the traditional friendship" between China and Malaysia, CCTV, another Chinese state broadcaster, reported.

He said he would "have an in-depth exchange of views" in meetings with Anwar and king Sultan Ibrahim, according to CCTV.

"With the joint efforts of both sides, this visit will surely achieve fruitful results," the broadcaster reported him as saying.

Xi is scheduled to attend a state banquet at the Malaysian monarch's palace on Wednesday morning before holding talks with Anwar in the administrative capital Putrajaya.

He and Anwar will witness the signing of a range of bilateral agreements, according to the Malaysian foreign ministry.

"China will work with Malaysia... to combat the undercurrents of geopolitical and camp-based confrontation, as well as the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism," Xi wrote in an article for Malaysia's The Star newspaper on Tuesday.

"We must uphold the UN-centered international system and the international order... and promote fairer and more equitable global governance," he wrote.

China and Malaysia celebrated their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations last year and enjoy robust trade ties, though Malaysia has partial claims to parts of the South China Sea, where Beijing has staked out near-blanket sovereignty.

China has remained Malaysia's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, with total trade between the two countries accounting for 16.8 percent of Malaysia's global trade last year, according to the Malaysian foreign ministry.

- 'Oppose bullying' -

Xi's arrival came hot on the heels of his visit to Vietnam.

The two nations said, "they will jointly oppose hegemony and power politics (and) jointly oppose unilateralism in all forms", in a joint statement published Tuesday in Vietnamese state media after Xi's visit.

The two sides also agreed to "maintain an open, transparent, inclusive, and non-discriminatory multilateral trade regime with the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the core ... and promote economic globalization".

The joint statement did not mention the United States or Trump by name, though China has been locked in a tit-for-tat trade war with Washington.

Since Trump's last salvo of tariffs, the United States has been levying duties of up to 145 percent on imports from China.

Beijing has called the taxes a "joke" and imposed retaliatory tolls of 125 percent on American goods.

Trump later said Xi's "lovely meeting" with Vietnamese counterparts aimed to "figure out, how do we screw the United States of America".

China and Vietnam signed 45 cooperation agreements on Monday including on supply chains, artificial intelligence, joint maritime patrols and railway development.

Xi said at a meeting with Vietnam's top leader To Lam that their countries were "standing at the turning point of history... and should move forward with joined hands".

Lam said after the talks that the two leaders "reached many important and comprehensive common perceptions", according to the Vietnam News Agency.

M.Soucek--TPP