KUALA LUMPUR (March 31): Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly planning a three-country tour in April, which will include a three-day visit to Malaysia, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

This will be Xi’s second official trip to Malaysia. His last visit was in October 2013.

Citing diplomatic sources, the report said Xi is expected to embark on his Southeast Asian tour in mid-April, with stops in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia. The visit is seen as part of Beijing’s efforts to strengthen regional ties, amid the intensified US-China trade war and growing uncertainty over US foreign policy, particularly with the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Xi’s visit to Malaysia is expected to build on his November 2024 meeting in Beijing with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and further deepen bilateral relations. Notably, this will also mark Xi’s first overseas trip of the year.

While China maintains strong trade ties with Southeast Asia, tensions persist over long-standing territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Xi’s last visit to the region was a state visit to Vietnam in December 2023.

His upcoming trip also coincides with Malaysia’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year. Since taking office in 2022, Anwar has visited China three times.

Malaysia is the first Asean country to establish diplomatic relations with China. In fact, 2024 marked a monumental milestone in the history of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations as the two countries celebrated 50 years of friendship.

In a historic visit to the republic in 1974, then-prime minister Tun Abdul Razak shook hands with Chinese paramount leader Mao Zedong in Beijing, and subsequently signed a joint communiqué with Chinese premier Zhou Enlai on May 31.