HANGZHOU — China and Malaysia on Dec 4 agreed to forge a stronger comprehensive strategic partnership in the post-epidemic period.

The agreement was reached when State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired the first meeting of the high-level committee on China-Malaysia cooperation with visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Anji in East China's Zhejiang province.

Noting that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have established a comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said China and Malaysia should make full use of the high-level bilateral committee to continue to deepen strategic mutual trust and make plans to cooperate in various fields.

Developing relations with China is Malaysia's priority, Saifuddin said, expressing willingness to deepen cooperation in various fields including vaccine and drug research and development.

Both sides agreed to advance strategic communication and mutual political trust, maintain high-level exchanges, coordinate and cooperate on major issues in a timely manner, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries.

China and Malaysia vowed to continue anti-pandemic cooperation, explore cooperation in research and development of upgraded COVID-19 vaccines and drugs, strengthen cooperation across the chain of vaccine clinical trials, procurement, and production, and deepen cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine.

Pledging to promote the co-construction of the Belt and Road, the two sides will step up the preparation of cooperation plans. China is willing to continue to expand imports of high-quality products from Malaysia.

The Malaysian side takes a positive view and looks forward to participating in the Global Development Initiative to contribute to the sustainable development of the world. The two sides will focus on promoting cooperation in the two major areas of digital economy and green development.

China and Malaysia also agreed to boost people-to-people exchanges, strengthen cooperation related to education, think tanks, movies, sports and other fields and maintain regional peace. Malaysia supports China in hosting the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.