Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday put forward a five-point proposal for the promotion of trade and cooperation between China and Malaysia.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addresses the Malaysia-China Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 28, 2011. [Xinhua photo]

At a forum on China-Malaysia trade and investment, Wen proposed to expand trade, increase mutual investments, strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, fiance and science and technology.

"First, we should expand bilateral trade," Wen told the forum, adding that there is great potential for trade as the two economies are highly complementary.

China's rapid growth demands more imports of palm oil, rubber and electronic products from Malaysia, while China could provide Malaysia with quality mechanical and electrical products at lower prices, said Wen.

He urged both countries to optimize trade mix by increasing exports of products of high technology and of high added value and raising the shares of telecommunications, biopharmaceutical, and green science and technology products.

"We have decided to import frozen durian from Malaysia and we hope that Malaysia will gradually increase its imports of halal food and auto products from China," said Wen.

Secondly, the two countries should deepen cooperation in mutual investments, he said.

The Chinese government, as always, encourages Malaysian enterprises to seek business opportunities in China, he said, adding that they are particularly welcome in China's inner land and the Northeast.

Although China is a "latecomer" in making investment in Malaysia, China is increasing investment in the country at a rapid speed, said Wen. The Chinese government encourages well-established Chinese enterprises to put money in Malaysia in manufacturing, energy and resources and services sectors.

He expressed the hope that the Malaysian government would create favorable conditions and facilitate Chinese investment in the country.

"Third, we should reinforce cooperation in infrastructure development," said Wen.

Noting that Malaysia would need lots of infrastructure in the years to come, Wen said cooperation in this field has broad prospects as Chinese companies in this particular sector have proper experience, credibility and competitiveness.

"China supports its companies in participating in the construction of roads, bridges, sea ports, power plants and telecommunications in Malaysia," said the premier.

Wen said that a number of projects that are under discussion, including the southern Malaysian rail project and the Mengkuang Dam in Penang, would produce considerable economic and social benefits once completed. He urged both sides to work for an early start of these projects.

"Fourth, we should scale up financial cooperation," Wen said.

He said China welcomes Malaysian financial institutions to expand their presence in China, adding that Bank Negara Malaysia has been granted official approval to set up a representative office in Beijing and to invest in China's inter-bank bond market.

Finally, Wen called for more cooperation in education and science and technology.

"China wants to see closer exchanges between Chinese and Malaysian scholars, teachers, experts and students and enhanced cooperation between our institutions of higher learning," he said.

China opened a Confucius Institute in the University of Malaya, while Malaysia has set up a Malay Study Center at Beijing Foreign Studies University, he added.

"The two governments will sign an agreement on mutual recognition of academic degrees in higher education," Wen said.

China and Malaysia should enhance cooperation in research and development and joint training in biology, remote sensing, information technology, traditional Chinese medicine and oceanology as they have strengths in these fields.

"China would like to train more than 10,000 telecommunications professionals for Malaysia in the next five years," Wen said.