Vice Premier Huang Ju said Thursday China is ready to further advance strategic cooperation with Malaysia.

Huang made the remark during the talks with visiting Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in Beijing Thursday afternoon.

Najib arrived in Beijing Wednesday for an official visit at the invitation of Huang.

Huang said China and Malaysia are working on advancing strategic cooperation. The two countries are facing good opportunities that they should take advantage of to continuously push forward bilateral relations.

Huang said bilateral relations are currently seeing rapid growth as the two countries continuously expand exchanges and cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, culture, education, health and defense. He said the two countries have maintained close coordination on international and regional affairs.

On China's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries, Huang said that strengthening friendly cooperation with ASEAN is a crucial link in China's foreign policy toward neighboring countries. He said China-ASEAN relations have entered a new period of comprehensive development.

China appreciates Malaysia for its active efforts and important contribution to developing China-ASEAN cooperation in the long term, Huang said. He said China is ready to join hands with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Najib said the relations between Malaysia and China have seen healthy growth. He said Malaysia is willing to work with China to continuously add vigor to bilateral relations by expanding and deepening friendly cooperation in all fields.

Najib said the Malaysian government attaches great importance to expanding trade and economic cooperation with China, especially in the area of energy.

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2005)