China and Malaysia have designated 2014 as a year of friendly exchanges when the two countries plan to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The agreement was made as President Xi Jinping paid his first visit to the Southeast Asian country, which is China's largest trading partner within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The visit has seen the two countries upgrade their ties and sign a blueprint for economic cooperation.

According to a joint media release issued on Saturday, China and Malaysia will undertake a series of activities next year, including exchanges of youth groups and art troupes, and increase cooperation in the fields of education, culture and tourism.

"Both sides agreed that the arrival of the giant pandas in Malaysia signified a new level of partnership between the two countries," the release said, referring to a gift made by the Chinese government.

The release also said that the two nations will set up new consulates in each other's country.

China will set up Consulates General in the Malaysian cities of Kota Kinabalu and Penang. Malaysia will also establish a Consulate-General office in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, to enhance person-to-person exchanges and cooperation at the local level, it said.

Malaysia is the first country among the ASEAN nations to establish diplomatic ties with China, and will soon become China's third-largest trade partner within Asia, after Japan and South Korea.

To further strengthen ties with Malaysia, Xi arranged a packed schedule, meeting the country's leaders while reaching out to Chinese Malaysians and business leaders.

Before leaving Malaysia, Xi met Mahathir Mohamad, who was Malaysia's prime minister from 1981 to 2003, the country's longest-serving political leader.

Xi noted Mahathir's important contribution to promoting friendly cooperation between China and Malaysia and called him "a respected old friend of the Chinese people".

Mahathir said the people of Malaysia appreciate China's peaceful development and "good neighbor" policy. He said he was optimistic about China's economic development, adding that Malaysia looks forward to developing its comprehensive strategic partnership with China.

He said Malaysian business society is preparing for the foundation of the "Zheng He Association", which will aim to promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.

Zheng He, a renowned Chinese navigator visited Malacca, now a historic city in Malaysia, five times more than 600 years ago during his naval expeditions. His story has often been cited as testimony to the history of friendly exchanges between the two countries.

Wang Yizhou, deputy dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, said Mahathir played an important role in developing Malaysia as China's largest trading partner among the ASEAN countries.

"During his administration, Mahathir made great efforts to develop Malaysia's relations with China. He also worked hard on developing relationships between different ethnic groups in Malaysia and maintained the country's stable development," Wang said.

Xi left Malaysia on Saturday to attend the 21st informal economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, held in Bali, Indonesia.

Contact the writers at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn and zhaoyanrong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/06/2013 page3)