Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, on Wednesday, that the growth in both China's investment in Malaysia and Malaysia's exports to China in the first half of this year, despite the impact of COVID-19, has demonstrated the strong complementarity and vitality of the bilateral cooperation.

Wang made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, in which they discussed various issues of mutual interest.

Hailing the close exchanges and cooperation between the two sides during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang hopes the two sides can resume exchanges at all levels in an orderly manner and establish bilateral and regional "fast lanes," and bolster cooperation in "green lanes" to help both countries resume work, production, and ensure the stable operation of industrial and supply chains.

Wang also took the opportunity to urge for stronger global cooperation in the fight against the pandemic by calling on all parties to build a strong fortress to defend global public health jointly and oppose stigmatization of the virus and politicization of the pandemic.

China is willing to work with Malaysia to continue to promote vaccine research and development, use and production cooperation, and strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation in East Asia cooperation, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), World Health Organization, and other multilateral arenas, and promote the construction of a human health community, noted the Chinese foreign minister.

Wang Yi said that China and Malaysia took the lead in moving on from the pandemic and promoting economic and social recovery. He noted that this is the result of mutual assistance and mutual support. It also creates the necessary conditions for future cooperation and opens up new prospects for both sides.

China firmly supports Malaysia in hosting this year's APEC meeting, promotes the meeting to adhere to APEC's purposes and principles, build an open Asia-Pacific economy, uphold the Asia-Pacific community with a shared future and the spirit of partnership, and formulate a vision after 2020, added Wang.

On his part, Hishammuddin said that Malaysia attaches great importance to the strong bilateral relationship between Malaysia and China, and bilateral cooperation goes beyond geopolitics. He noted that the Malaysian side fully agrees that the two sides should actively carry out vaccine cooperation, establish "fast channels" and "green channels" as soon as possible, discuss jointly ensuring the safety of the supply chain, and release positive signals of unity and cooperation between the two countries.

(With input from Xinhua)