14 February 2025
WP343 | How Will Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim Advance Malaysia’s Belt and Road Cooperation with China?
Abstract
Since being inaugurated as Malaysia’s tenth prime minister in November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim has significantly strengthened Malaysia-China relations. In just over two years, he has visited China three times. He often lauded China as a reliable partner and a “true friend” of Malaysia. During his first visit to China in 2023, Anwar praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a visionary initiative and urged China to give stronger support and renewed push to the BRI.
This paper reviews past developments in Malaysia-China BRI cooperation and discusses its prospects under Anwar and his Unity Government. It contends that the Anwar government will continue to support and consolidate the existing BRI projects and will broaden BRI cooperation beyond the infrastructure connectivity sector. It also evaluates several risk factors and challenges in Malaysia’s BRI cooperation.
About the Author
Ngeow Chow Bing is Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of China Studies at Universiti Malaya and a Non-resident Scholar at Carnegie China. He received his PhD in Public and International Affairs from Northeastern University. He has written on various topics related to Chinese politics and foreign policy and Southeast Asian strategic issues, such as China-Malaysia relations, the South China Sea dispute, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the politics of think tanks and intellectuals in China. Dr Ngeow completed the first draft of this working paper while he was a Visiting Senior Fellow with the Malaysia Programme at RSIS in September 2024.
Abstract
Since being inaugurated as Malaysia’s tenth prime minister in November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim has significantly strengthened Malaysia-China relations. In just over two years, he has visited China three times. He often lauded China as a reliable partner and a “true friend” of Malaysia. During his first visit to China in 2023, Anwar praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a visionary initiative and urged China to give stronger support and renewed push to the BRI.
This paper reviews past developments in Malaysia-China BRI cooperation and discusses its prospects under Anwar and his Unity Government. It contends that the Anwar government will continue to support and consolidate the existing BRI projects and will broaden BRI cooperation beyond the infrastructure connectivity sector. It also evaluates several risk factors and challenges in Malaysia’s BRI cooperation.
About the Author
Ngeow Chow Bing is Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of China Studies at Universiti Malaya and a Non-resident Scholar at Carnegie China. He received his PhD in Public and International Affairs from Northeastern University. He has written on various topics related to Chinese politics and foreign policy and Southeast Asian strategic issues, such as China-Malaysia relations, the South China Sea dispute, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the politics of think tanks and intellectuals in China. Dr Ngeow completed the first draft of this working paper while he was a Visiting Senior Fellow with the Malaysia Programme at RSIS in September 2024.
