President Xi Jinping meets with Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 16, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Earlier in the day, Xi also met with Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who held a grand welcoming ceremony for the Chinese president.

Xi said he is ready to work with the Malaysian supreme head of state to lead the long-term and stable development of China-Malaysia ties, and write a new chapter in good-neighborliness, friendship, solidarity and cooperation.

Xu Liping, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Center for Southeast Asian Studies, said the new definition of the China-Malaysia community with a shared future has specified the direction of bilateral relations.

Noting that both China and Malaysia are advocates and beneficiaries of free trade, Xu said it is important that the two countries, together with other ASEAN countries, make better use of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which covers one-third of the world's population, trade and GDP, especially amid the United States' unilateral imposition of tariffs.