ISTANBUL/ISLAMABAD: China is ready to work with Malaysia to promote Asian civilisations, uphold strategic independence and firmly reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, says China's President Xi Jinping.

Xi said this during a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Friday (March 31) after attending the Boao Forum for Asia on the island province of Hainan, according to China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

Anwar is currently undertaking a three-day official visit to China which ends Saturday (April 1).

Beijing and Kuala Lumpur will be marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2024.

"The two sides agreed to build a China-Malaysia community with a shared future. This will open a new chapter in bilateral relations," Hua was reported as saying by Anadolu Agency.

While Xi and Anwar discussed trade and economic relations, the Malaysian Prime Minister said he also touched on the Chinese government's efforts to confront and unravel the problem of poverty in China "which is now bearing fruit when almost 800 million people have been freed from the shackles of poverty."

Meanwhile, Hua said Xi also met Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a separate meet where the Chinese President told Lee that the "Asian region has blazed a development path featuring independence, mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, openness, inclusion and win-win cooperation with Asian characteristics."

"In a world with fast-evolving major changes unseen in a century, we need to value and defend the hard-won development momentum, firmly reject hegemony and bullying, and not allow any country to deprive Asian people of the right to pursue a better life," Xi told Lee.

Xi also discussed bilateral, regional and international issues with a focus on Asian "independence'' during his meeting with Anwar and Lee. – Bernama-Anadolu