Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will be embarking on a four-day official visit to China from tomorrow to further bolster the bilateral relations between Malaysia and China.

The Malaysian Embassy in China charge d'affaires ad interim Nuryante Mohd Yazid said the visit of Wan Azizah to China will be her first since taking the deputy prime minister post.

"The four-day visit (July 8 to 11) is at the invitation of her counterpart, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan,” she said at a media conference with Bernama and RTM in Beijing today.

Nuryante said the deputy prime minister who is expected to arrive tomorrow (3pm, Monday), will start her official visit by attending a dinner with about 130 Malaysians living in China.

On the second day of the visit, she said Wan Azizah would have a tight schedule with meetings with four senior leaders of China.

"In the morning, Wan Azizah will pay a courtesy call on China's Deputy President Wang Qishan at Zhongnanhai,” she said.

She said among the subjects to be discussed are efforts to reinforce bilateral relations, the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China as well as cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative.

After that, she said Wan Azizah, who is also the women, family and community development minister, is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Sun who is in charge of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under State Council.

Nuryante said the meeting would be followed by lunch hosted by Sun.

She said both leaders are expected to discuss continuous efforts to strengthen the Malaysia-China relations apart from following up on the status of decisions reached during the visit of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed in August 2018 and April 2019.

Apart from that, bilateral cooperation in education, agro-commodity, agriculture, women development as well as tourism and culture would also be discussed in the meeting.

In the evening, she said Wan Azizah is scheduled to visit the 660-year-old Dongsi Mosque built during the Yuan Dynasty and will meet Muslim community representatives in China and the mosque leadership.

She said Wan Azizah, who is also Pakatan Harapan president, will end her second-day visit with a meeting with the Communist Party of China (CPC) International Liaison Department director Song Tao, followed by a dinner hosted by him.

"Both parties will discuss future programmes to boost relations between Pakatan Harapan and CPC,” she said.

On the third day of the visit, Wan Azizah will be visiting the Disaster Management Centre of China and will be briefed on the best practice and latest technology used by Chinese authorities in a disaster.

Later, Nuryante said the deputy prime minister will hold a luncheon with Malaysian business people in China.

"Discussions will centre on the status of investments by Malaysian companies as well as the efforts of the government to improve demand for Malaysian products and services in international market especially in China,” she said.

Following that, Nuryante said Wan Azizah will be visiting Huawei Research Centre to obtain information on the latest technology produced by the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world.

"The deputy prime minister will hold a meeting with Huawei top leadership to discuss mutual cooperation between Malaysia and the company,” she said.

At her next stop, she said Wan Azizah will hold a round table meeting with leading entrepreneurs and investors in Beijing to attract more foreign investments to Malaysia.

"She will also update more than 30 Chinese companies on the latest policies and incentives offered by the government to make Malaysia as a leading investment destination in the region,” she said.

On the last day of her official visit, Nuryante said the deputy prime minister would be visiting a Children Speech and Hearing Rehabilitation and Research Centre followed by a press conference with Malaysian media before departing home.

Accompanying Wan Azizah in the visit are Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun, Education Minister Maszlee Malik, Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya and Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Sim Tze Tzin.

- Bernama