Visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak (left front) receives a special gift, a photo of his late father and China's late Premier Zhou Enlai when the two established diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia in 1974, from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (right front), in Beijing, on June 3 (XINHUA)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday raised a four-point proposal to boost collaboration with Malaysia so as to jointly tackle the global financial crisis.

China and Malaysia should insist on the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, take each other's concern into consideration and achieve common development, Wen said to visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

Wen raised a four-point proposal for further cooperation between the two countries, which included promoting trade diversification, enhancing mutual investment, deepening financial cooperation and safeguarding financial stability, and strengthening coordination on regional affairs.

Malaysia has become China's largest trade partner among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Trade between the two countries reached $39.06 billion in 2008, up 10.3 percent year on year.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. Wen said that China is ready to work with Malaysia to take this opportunity to promote their relations.

Malaysia was the first ASEAN member country to forge diplomatic relations with China 35 years ago under then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, Najib's late father.

Najib said it is his honor of choose China as the first non-ASEAN destination since he took office in April. "This shows that Malaysia attaches great importance to the development of Malaysia-China relations."

Najib noted that his visit is aimed at further accelerating the development of the bilateral ties and strengthening cooperation.

Najib said he agree with Wen's proposal on advancing Malaysia-China relations, saying Malaysia, on the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit, is ready to enhance cooperation with China in the fields of economy, finance, resources, energy and infrastructure construction.

After the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of bilateral agreements on cooperation.

Najib received a special gift from the Chinese side: a photo of his late father and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai when the two established diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia in 1974.

Najib received an honorary doctorate in international relations from the Beijing Foreign Studies University at the opening ceremony of an international seminar on the dialogue between Chinese and Malaysian civilizations Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)