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Focused on China-Malaysia Digital Trade & Economic Collaboration: AIRH Joins Hands with MCBC and CROSS to Prepare Special Forum for CIFTIS
6 July 2026 – The Asia Innovation Research Hub (AIRH) held a working meeting at Malaysia’s Parliament with Dato’ Tan Tian Meng, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC); YB Tan Kar Hing, Member of Parliament and Executive Chairman of the Centre for Regional Strategic Studies (CROSS); and Chong Jing Wen, Executive Director of CROSS. The parties engaged in in-depth discussions on preparations for the proposed China-Malaysia Digital Economy Cooperation and Innovative Development Forum, to be hosted during the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).
Participants agreed that China-Malaysia cooperation must move beyond superficial business matchmaking to embrace a long-term framework built on amicable partnership, regional coordination and mutual benefit. As Chinese enterprises expand into Malaysia and broader ASEAN markets, they must fully respect local development priorities, industrial structures and collaboration timelines. For its part, Malaysia can deliver clearer cooperation guidance via trade associations, research institutes and industrial platforms, fostering positive synergies among enterprises, technologies, real-world application scenarios and capital.
Centred on the CIFTIS platform, the core discussion revolved around establishing a full-cycle ecosystem integrating forum sessions, industry site visits, project matchmaking and sustained post-event collaboration mechanisms. AIRH highlighted that as China’s flagship national-level international cooperation platform for trade in services, CIFTIS consistently deepens exchanges between China and the rest of the globe across digital economy, technological innovation and trade in services. Moving forward, the Hub aims to leverage CIFTIS’s global reach to deliver tangible, implementable cooperation outcomes between China and Malaysia spanning digital trade, artificial intelligence deployment, smart agriculture, integrated supply chains, youth innovation and Chinese enterprises’ overseas expansion.
Detailed planning for industry study tours featured prominently in the talks, covering agricultural artificial intelligence, digital supply chains, tech parks and visits to innovative startups. All sides recognised agritech, food security, climate resilience, biosecurity and intelligent agricultural management as pivotal pillars of Malaysia’s industrial transformation, supported by solid existing foundations for China-Malaysia joint work. Organising delegations comprising Malaysian government bodies, trade chambers, enterprises and research institutions to visit Chinese research labs, tech firms and industrial parks will enable first-hand insights into China’s real-world applications of AI-driven farming, digitalised supply chains and industrial innovation.
Dato’ Tan Tian Meng remarked that China-Malaysia trade and economic ties demand constant expansion of new platforms and collaborative verticals. As a key Chinese international cooperation showcase, CIFTIS has steadily enriched its offerings in digital economy, technological innovation and professional services in recent years, meriting greater attention from Malaysian corporations and institutions. Moving ahead, MCBC will align with Malaysian businesses’ practical demands to mobilise more industry players with robust cooperation intent and operational foundations to join relevant exchange activities.
YB Tan Kar Hing stressed that China-Malaysia partnerships must prioritise measurable results, particularly in agritech, food safety, climate action, biosecurity and industrial upgrading. Only organisations with relevant expertise and proven collaborative track records should be selected to participate. Defining clear cooperation priorities and participation criteria will raise the quality of delegation exchanges and prevent the common pitfall of “fruitless visits with no follow-up deliverables”, ensuring tangible gains for all participating businesses and institutions.
AIRH stated that as a Malaysia-based platform bridging China and ASEAN, it will capitalise on its strengths in research, event hosting, project delivery and local on-the-ground support. Working alongside core partners including MCBC and CROSS, AIRH will drive all preparatory tasks: forum agenda curation, guest speaker recruitment, delegation coordination, corporate matching and long-term post-forum project facilitation. The Hub will also build a more systematic service framework dedicated to China-Malaysia digital trade cooperation, aligning Chinese technological strengths with Malaysia’s on-the-ground commercial use cases to propel high-level, shared growth for both sides.
The meeting also aligned on follow-up operational mechanisms. All stakeholders will further refine itineraries for the Malaysian delegation’s China visit, corporate participation frameworks, targeted industrial matching roadmaps and media outreach strategies, with continuous communication to ensure smooth progress across all preparatory workstreams.
This working session laid a solid groundwork for the China-Malaysia Digital Economy Cooperation and Innovative Development Forum at the 2026 CIFTIS, as well as the Malaysian delegation’s upcoming study tour to China. Going forward, AIRH will continue partnering with stakeholders from both nations to seize the opportunities presented by CIFTIS and advance deeper, higher-quality pragmatic collaboration between China and Malaysia across digital economy, artificial intelligence, modern agriculture, trade in services and industrial innovation.
Monday 6 July,2026
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Asia Innovation Research Hub (AIRH)
Website: www.airh.my
Email: airhmy@airh.my