It’s great to cooperate with China

PETALING JAYA: Continued collaboration and cooperation with China will be key to realizing Malaysia’s aspirations to become a regional digital powerhouse, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The MCA president said the Malaysia-China digital cooperation will facilitate breakthrough technology exchanges and improvements, while also improving connectivity between the two countries.

In this context, he referred to the key role of Alibaba, the representative company of the Hangzhou digital economy, in Malaysia’s digital transformation.

“Alibaba Cloud launched its cloud data center and second availability zone in 2017 and 2018, which helped establish the Malaysian Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) as the first electronic global trade platform (e-WTP) jointly established by Alibaba Group and a foreign government company “,”

Dr Wee said yesterday in his speech at the Third World Digital Commerce Fair in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province.

“During my tenure as Malaysia’s Transport Minister, I actively promoted smart logistics and digital transport transformation, focusing on the green ports policy and digital transformation plans, with the support of Alibaba Group.

“As a global leader in artificial intelligence technology, Alibaba Cloud has also provided various digital transformation services to Malaysian enterprises and government agencies. “This is another example of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Malaysia.”

Dr Wee also pointed to the impressive growth of the digital economy in China as a model for Malaysia to follow in the future.

“In the first half of 2024 alone, the import and export scale of digitally provided services in China reached a historic maximum, reaching 1.42 trillion yuan and 1.22 trillion yuan for cross-border e-commerce imports and exports, respectively.

“The revenue of China’s telecommunications business also increased year-on-year by 6.2% in 2023, and network service capabilities continued to improve, and the total computing power ranked second in the world.

“We therefore look forward to learning about China’s key plans and initiatives to develop its digital economy in 2024 at this conference.” – he said.

Dr Wee also noted that states like Johor, which is the fastest-growing data center market in Southeast Asia, should learn from Zhejiang, where the digital economy accounts for more than half of the total economy.

“In 2023, the province’s digital economy achieved an added value of 4.33 trillion yuan, up 10.1%, accounting for 52.5% of GDP, the fastest growth rate among all provinces in China.

“For two years in a row, China’s level of comprehensive digitalization development has been at the top as value added in key digital economy industries increased by 9.1%, accounting for 12.9% of GDP in the first half of this year.

“These are extraordinary achievements from which Malaysia can learn a lot,” he added.

The third Global Digital Commerce Expo, which started on Wednesday, is being held in Hangzhou and is organized by the Zhejiang Hangzhou Municipal Government and the China International Trade Association.

The four-day fair brings together leading companies from 32 countries and regions, focusing on innovation and showcasing cutting-edge applications in digital commerce, including artificial intelligence, intelligent robotics and the low-altitude economy.

Dr Wee attended the exhibition along with the Melaka Prime Minister’s investment adviser and Klebang state assemblyman Datuk Lim Ban Hong, who was present as a panelist.

Other speakers included Cambodia’s Minister of Posts and Communications, Vandeth Chia, and the Arab League representative to China, Minister Plenipotentiary Representative Ahmed Mustafa Fahmy Hafez.