For China, 2026 marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. For Malaysia, it is the launch year of the 13th Malaysia Plan. Both nations are entering crucial junctures in their respective development trajectories.
[Centre for New Inclusive Asia president] Koh noted that, leveraging Guangdong’s industrial strengths, the prospects for cooperation between the two sides are particularly broad in three areas. The first is green technology transfer and electric vehicle supply chain cooperation, combining Guangdong’s leadership in EV and battery technologies with Malaysia’s automotive manufacturing foundation and regional market potential. The second is smart manufacturing and industrial digitalization, integrating Guangdong’s technological solutions with Malaysia’s industrial edge in semiconductor testing and packaging. The third is promoting the deep integration of digital services and cross-border e-commerce, capitalizing on the new digital trade rules introduced by the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 upgrade.
Koh anticipates that Malaysia can leverage the APEC platform to drive Asia-Pacific regional integration across three dimensions. First, regarding supply chain complementarity, Malaysia can utilize APEC mechanisms to promote the mutual recognition of standards and trade facilitation. This will allow the country to more closely embed its strengths in the electrical and electronics, semiconductor and other fields with the advanced manufacturing base of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, spearheaded by Shenzhen.
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