Accompanied by his cabinet ministers and senior government officials, Xi arrived in this capital on Monday, although the official welcoming ceremony took place this Wednesday morning.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Ministers, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, participated in the ceremonial act.

Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported several tokens of respect as a gift to the Chinese president and the delegation assisting him.

Malaysia is the second stop of Xi’s tour of three Southeast Asian countries. He arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Vietnam and will leave for Cambodia on Thursday.

China has been Malaysia’s leading trading partner since 2009.

During the current visit, exchanges on bilateral cooperation and other regional and international issues of common interest are expected, in an economic context marked by the imposition of new tariffs by the current United States government.

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