Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (R) shakes hands with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Sabah state, Malaysia, Aug. 11, 2012. (Xinhua/Chong voon chung)

China is willing to push forward cooperation with Malaysia and working together towards a peaceful and prosperous East Asia region, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Saturday.

Bilateral relations between China and Malaysia have made positive progress in recent years, and the cooperation in various areas between the two countries is leading ahead of those between China and otherASEANcountries, said Yang when meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Sabah state of East Malaysia.

Yang recalled the meeting between Chinese PremierWen Jiabaoand Najib in April when the two leaders launched the China- Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, during which they had reached an important consensus on further promoting pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.

The Chinese foreign minister told Najib that China highly values the importance to develop strategic cooperation with Malaysia, which is an important partner to China in the region.

China is willing to work with Malaysia for further bilateral cooperation and a closer China-ASEAN strategic partnership, as well as a peaceful, developed and prosperous East Asia region, Yang said.

Malaysia attaches great importance to the friendly cooperation with China, as China is Malaysia's largest trading partner, Najib said.

He pointed out that given the increasing volume bilateral currency swap, the trade between Malaysia and China still has great potential.

The Malaysian prime minister also expressed hope to speed up the implementation of the Qinzhou Industrial park and other significant joint projects.

Najib thanked China for playing a constructive role in pushing forward regional cooperation. He said Malaysia would closely cooperate with China to boost development in the region for the benefit of the people of the two countries as well as in the region.