Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- In 2012, Yong June Kong, a Malaysian young man who had studied medicine in China, donated his hematopoietic stem cells to a Chinese boy suffering from leukemia, successfully saving the 7-year-old child and making himself the first foreign stem cell donor in China.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2013 visit to Malaysia, the president referenced this moving episode to highlight the deep friendship between the Chinese and Malaysian people. "We will also not forget" the story, Xi said with deep emotion.

"I never imagined that such a simple act would receive such high-level recognition," Yong, now a doctor at Renji Hospital in Shanghai, told Xinhua. "I couldn't sleep the whole night after learning that the Chinese president had spoken of me," he recalled.

Xi's recognition was not only a personal honor but also a tribute to the spirit of mutual support between the nations, Yong added.

"This encouragement has strengthened my resolve to stay in China, to continue my medical career in saving lives, to do more blood donations and other charitable activities, and to become a bridge of friendship between China and Malaysia," he said.

As a Malay proverb once quoted by Xi goes: "A friend who understands your tears is much more valuable than a lot of friends who only know your smile." In his eyes, the two countries are good friends who can get along well, and trust and rely on each other.

Back in 1974, with strategic vision, China and Malaysia broke the ice of the Cold War and established diplomatic ties, with the latter being the first ASEAN member to do so. Later on, Malaysia also became the first to invite China to conduct dialogue with ASEAN and the first to host the China-ASEAN summit.

During his 2013 Malaysia trip, Xi recalled the joint fight of the two countries against the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global economic tsunami, as well as the assistance extended by Malaysia to China in the aftermath of the devastating 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. It was also during this visit that bilateral ties were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

A decade later, President Xi and Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reached a consensus in Beijing on jointly building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, opening a new chapter in bilateral relations.

At a broader level, Xi highly regards Malaysia's pivotal role in regional cooperation as a founding member of ASEAN and a key driver of East Asia cooperation. The Chinese president has reiterated China's support for Malaysia's ASEAN 2025 chairmanship and its commitment to ASEAN centrality and strategic independence.

"Malaysia-China relations have grown from strength to strength in recent decades," said Samirul Ariff Othman, an economist at Malaysia's Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. "Today, this partnership is more dynamic than ever, underpinned by deep economic collaboration and strong people-to-people exchanges."