KUALA LUMPUR — China will grant a 50-billion yuan ($8.2 billion) quota to Malaysia under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) program, Premier Li Keqiang said in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 23.

Premier Li, who is paying his first official visit to the Southeast Asian country as premier, pledged several other moves to strengthen financial cooperation with Malaysia when addressing a bilateral high-level economic forum.

He called for joint efforts from both China and Malaysia to stabilize the financial market and boost investment and trade cooperation to tackle global financial instability and other economic woes.

The Premier hoped that China’s development and growing internal demand could unleash business opportunities for Malaysian enterprises.

In the next five years, Premier Li noted, China is expected to import foreign goods totaling $10 trillion.

China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for seven consecutive years, and Malaysia is now China’s top trading partner in ASEAN, with annual bilateral trade volume topping $100 billion.