The Keynote Speech by Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing at UTM

On August 5, Ambassador Ouyang Yujing delivered a keynote speech titled “Innovation, Partnership and Shared Prosperity: China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future in a Changing World” at UTM. The full text is as follows:

Professor Dr. Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim, Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Excellencies and members of the diplomatic corps,
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Ariffin Abu Hassan, Director of UTM International,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear students,

Good morning!

It gives me great pleasure to visit the beautiful campus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. I would like to thank Vice-Chancellor Shafry for his kind invitation.

This is my first visit to UTM, yet to China, UTM has long been a familiar and trusted friend. The University has established a strategic partnership with Huawei and developed cooperation with a number of Chinese universities, including the establishment of a Joint Artificial Intelligence Laboratory with Zhejiang University and intelligent manufacturing cooperation with Wuhan University of Technology. Innovation has always been a defining feature of UTM’s cooperation with China.

Innovation is the primary driving force for development. Throughout the history of human progress, innovation has always been an important force propelling a country and a nation forward, as well as a powerful force advancing human society as a whole.

More than 600 years ago, Admiral Zheng He led the world’s most advanced fleet on seven voyages to the Western Seas. His five stopovers in Malacca were a glorious chapter in the history of China–Malaysia relations. The fleet relied on monsoon winds for navigation. At that time, inviting a Chinese scholar to deliver a lecture at UTM would probably have required a journey of two to three months.

More than a century ago, around the time UTM was founded, steamships had become a common means of travel between China and Malaysia. No longer constrained by the monsoon winds, a Chinese scholar could complete the voyage in approximately two weeks. Today, it takes only about six hours to fly from China to Malaysia. An online lecture can be held face to face with just a mobile phone. Even when participants do not speak the same language, artificial intelligence (AI) can provide real-time interpretation. This demonstrates in very tangible ways how scientific and technological innovation is transforming our lives.

Today, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing at a faster pace. Information technologies such as AI, quantum information and the Internet of Things are making production and daily life increasingly intelligent. New energy technologies, including new energy vehicles and photovoltaic power generation, are facilitating the global energy transition. Technologies related to commercial aviation and deep-sea development are expanding the frontiers of human survival and development.

Never before has science and technology had such a profound impact on the future of nations. Never before has it so profoundly affected the well-being and lives of every individual.

In the face of this historic trend, only by accurately grasping the pulse of our times can we secure leadership in development. The Asian continent, one of the important birthplaces of human civilisation, has created splendid civilisations throughout history. Yet, following the Industrial Revolution, Asian countries missed the opportunity presented by technological and institutional transformation. Many countries and regions, including China and Malaysia, were consequently reduced to colonies or semi-colonies of Western powers.

Since the end of the Second World War, China and Malaysia have successively achieved national independence. Together with other Asian countries, we have embarked on an Asian path of development characterised by independence and self-reliance, mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and particularly since the beginning of reform and opening up, China and the Chinese people have continued to explore new practices, and achieved the two miracles of the modern world: rapid economic development together with long-term social stability. Malaysia, meanwhile, has demonstrated tremendous economic vitality through its strong development in emerging sectors such as semiconductors and data centers.

Today, China is advancing the cause of building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernisation. By 2035, China aims to significantly increase its economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities and overall national strength; achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology and join the ranks of the world’s most innovative countries. China also aims to build a modernised economy and form a new pattern of development; basically modernise the system and capacity for governance; and broadly establish eco-friendly ways of work and life. Chinese modernisation is underpinned and driven by the development of new quality productive forces. The development and leapfrog of new quality productive forces is also a defining feature of China’s advancement of Chinese modernisation on all fronts.

New quality productive forces are an advanced form of productive forces in which innovation plays the leading role. They transcend traditional economic growth models and conventional paths of productive-force development and are characterised by high technology, high efficiency and high quality. Developing new quality productive forces, of course, does not mean neglecting or abandoning traditional industries. Rather, it means taking an initiative to foster new industries, new models and new growth drivers, upgrading traditional industries with new technologies, and actively promoting the high-end, intelligent and green transformation of industries.

In the first half of this year, China made new breakthroughs in developing new quality productive forces. New growth drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, smart economy and modern services contributed more than 40% to China’s economic growth, becoming a key force in promoting higher-quality and innovation-driven economic development.

In the past, the term “new trio” was often used in connection with “Made in China”, referring to new energy vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products. After years of development, new energy vehicles now account for more than 50% of new vehicle sales in the Chinese market. China has also built the world’s largest and fastest-growing renewable-energy system. It supplies more than 80% of the world’s photovoltaic modules and 70% of its wind-power equipment, while helping to drive down the cost of renewable energy continuously over the past decade.

Today, we are also speaking of a new “new trio”: robotics, AI and innovative pharmaceuticals. In the first half of this year, China’s four-legged robots accounted for nearly 70% of global sales. China has developed more than 400 humanoid robot products, accounting for over half of the world’s total. More than 10,000 intelligent bionic robots deeply integrated with artificial intelligence were exported to over 90 countries and regions. China’s innovative drug out-licensing deals exceeded USD 100 billion in the first half of the year, reaching a record high. According to publicly available transaction data, Chinese companies secured 8 of the world’s 10 largest innovative drug business development deals by value.

Among the new “new trio”, AI is an important driving force of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. It will have a profound impact on global economic and social development and on the progress of human civilisation.

Next, using AI as an example, I would like to share several important practices from China’s efforts to develop new quality productive forces.

First, we should give full play to the innovative spirit of young people. China attaches great importance to talent development and is creating broader opportunities for young people to engage in innovation and put their ideas into practice. China currently has a large and youthful community of active AI researchers, 47% of whom are students. According to an article published by The Economist, the number of papers from China presented at the world’s leading AI conferences in 2025 surpassed those from the United States and Europe for the first time.

Some of you may have seen videos of Chinese humanoid robots performing martial arts, somersaults and dances. Most of these robots were developed by a Chinese company called Unitree Robotics. Its founder, Wang Xingxing, who was born in the 1990s, began by building a small robot with just RMB 200 during the winter break of his first year at university. Today, he has led the company to become a global leader in four-legged and humanoid robots. Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, was also born in the 1990s, and the average age of his team is only 28. The free large language model developed by the team has reached a world-leading level with outstanding cost-effectiveness and won widespread recognition among users around the world.

All of you here today are outstanding Gen-Z representatives of Malaysia. You were born in an era full of opportunities and have every prospect of making a meaningful contribution. I look forward to the day when I can experience the new inventions, innovations and applications created by you.

Second, we should remain committed to openness and win-win cooperation. The development of AI should not be a solo performance by any single country, but a symphony of global cooperation. Unlike the practices of certain country, such as putting up technological barriers and having “a small yard with high fences” against other countries, China’s large AI models pursue an open-source approach.

Just last week, the Chinese large model Kimi K3 was officially made open source, becoming the world’s first open-source model at the three-trillion-parameter scale. Despite limits on the computing capacity, this Chinese team has developed a large model whose capabilities are close to the world’s leading closed-source models. This model was made available to the entire world. This is a truly remarkable achievement.

In 2025, Chinese open-source AI models ranked first globally in total downloads. Chinese models occupied eight of the world’s top ten among open-source large AI models. As of March 2026, China accounted for 60% of the world’s valid AI patents. China encourages the open-source and open development of AI, promotes cooperation and sharing of resources, works to ensure that the benefits of innovation are accessible to all, and contributes to global development and prosperity.

It is encouraging that China has established the World AI Cooperation Organization, or WAICO, in Shanghai, and that Malaysia officially became a founding member of the organization last month. China looks forward to strengthening cooperation with Malaysia under the framework of WAICO and sharing the benefits of artificial intelligence with countries around the world.

Third, we should expand the application of artificial intelligence across a wider range of scenarios. Innovative technologies can develop only when they are put into practical use. China has launched the “AI Plus” initiative to promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence with the real economy and different industries, empowering a wide range of sectors with AI.

In Futian District of Shenzhen, there is a “robot-friendly demonstration zone”, where more than 100 AI applications have been deployed. These applications not only perform tasks, but are also able to “talk with each other to get the job done together”. For example, when a drone accurately identifies a potential safety hazard on the road, a ground patrol vehicle can immediately arrive to address it. Orders received by smart stores are sorted by robots and delivered by robotic dogs. Under the unified coordination of an intelligent control centre, different types of smart equipment work together, making urban operations and governance more intelligent and efficient. This demonstration zone offers a glimpse of how artificial intelligence in China is rapidly moving from laboratories into real-life applications.

Looking ahead, China will develop more convenient, efficient and economically viable AI applications to bring greater convenience to people’s work and daily lives.

Malaysia is also a country with a strong spirit of innovation. It ranks 34th in the Global Innovation Index and second among upper-middle-income economies. Malaysia’s semiconductor industry occupies a key position in global industrial and supply chains. Malaysia accounts for approximately 13% of the global semiconductor assembly, packaging and testing market, while its electrical and electronics industry ranks seventh worldwide in terms of global market share. Recently, Malaysia launched the National AI Action Plan 2026–2030, and AI Malaysia Berhad was officially established. These developments fully demonstrate Malaysia’s firm commitment to scientific and technological innovation, as well as its enormous potential in this field.

Science and technology knows no borders, and innovation has no limits. The advancement of scientific and technological innovation requires international cooperation, openness and sharing. No country can become an innovation hub in isolation or enjoy its fruits alone. Innovation-driven development is a shared aspiration of both China and Malaysia. The enduring friendship between our two countries and the deep bonds of goodwill between our peoples have laid a solid foundation for closer cooperation in innovation.

Since the very day China and Malaysia established diplomatic relations, our bilateral relationship has been distinctive, innovative and full of vitality. Malaysia was the first ASEAN country to establish diplomatic relations with China, the first to invite China to participate in the “ASEAN Plus One” framework, and the first to invite China to attend the East Asia Summit.

During the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, more than 3,200 Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics from Malaysia helped to keep the road open between Myanmar and China’s Yunnan province, maintaining the “lifeline” of China’s resistance, at the cost of their own blood and even lives. They made an indelible contribution to the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. In the early years of China’s reform and opening up, Malaysian entrepreneurs were among the first to invest in the Chinese mainland, contributing to China’s rapid economic development. The Chinese people will always remember this profound friendship.

When I first arrived in Malaysia, the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing. At a time when Malaysia launched its National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, China overcame its domestic vaccine shortages and promptly provided Malaysia with more than 40 million doses of Sinovac, Sinopharm, and CanSino vaccines, offering strong support for Malaysia’s fight against the pandemic. It is precisely this close friendship that has enabled China and Malaysia to advance hand in hand through the “golden 50 years” since the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Today, innovation has become a new defining feature of China–Malaysia relations. In April 2025, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Malaysia, marking his second visit to Malaysia in 12 years. One of the major highlights of the visit was the agreement between the two sides to jointly build a regional hub for cooperation on new quality productive forces, charting the course for practical cooperation between China and Malaysia.

The two sides signed a record-breaking 32 cooperation documents, producing fruitful results. These documents cover frontier areas such as the digital economy, the green economy and artificial intelligence, etc. The two countries will promote the integrated development of industrial, supply, value, data and talent chains, jointly establish laboratories for emerging technologies, set a regional benchmark for high-quality development, and support each other’s modernisation endeavours.

Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of our two countries, China and Malaysia have made pioneering progress in many fields. During the durian season, if you visit a company named Top Fruits in Johor, you will see the employees using artificial intelligence to monitor and predict the growth of durians, to improve operational efficiency. This is part of the company’s scientific and technological cooperation with Xiamen University Malaysia. With the support of this monitoring system, workers are able to carry out sorting, packing and other tasks in a more orderly and efficient manner. The durians are then transported to China and, at the fastest, can reach Chinese consumers as early as the day of harvest.

The story of a durian offers only a glimpse of the growing cooperation between China and Malaysia in scientific and technological innovation.

In recent years, investment and cooperation by Chinese enterprises in Malaysia have gradually expanded from traditional infrastructure and engineering contracting into emerging sectors such as high-end manufacturing, green energy, digital economy, new energy vehicles, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and green finance. A multi-tiered, full-industrial-chain cooperation ecosystem has taken shape.

In the field of green development, Chinese companies are actively participating in hydropower, solar energy, waste-to-energy and green industrial projects, supporting Malaysia’s energy transition and low-carbon development. At the same time, Chinese financial institutions are actively promoting cooperation in green finance and digital finance, providing financing support for Malaysia’s green transformation.

In the digital economy sector, Chinese enterprises have become important participants in Malaysia’s digital transformation. Chinese companies are actively involved in the development of 5G, artificial intelligence, smart cities, the industrial internet and digital infrastructure in Malaysia. Malaysia’s second 5G network, jointly developed by Huawei and ZTE, is nearing completion. Hikvision provides digital services to more than 50 Malaysian and foreign-invested enterprises, helping Malaysian businesses to upgrade their operations.

In the field of artificial intelligence, Chinese enterprises have participated in the development of ILMU, Malaysia’s first large language model. A number of Chinese technology companies, including Huawei, ByteDance and Alibaba, have invested in Malaysia’s AI industry and data centers. iFLYTEK and Malaysia’s Enjoy TV Film Corporation have jointly launched an AI-powered multilingual translation and dubbing center. The center supports the rapid translation and dubbing of film and television content in more than 130 languages, including Malay, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian, with the translation completed in as little as 30 minutes.

In April this year, Xiamen University and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation. Through the China–Malaysia International Institute for Advanced Studies, the two universities will expand collaborative innovation in artificial intelligence, advanced engineering and other fields.

It is also worth noting that Chinese enterprises are placing increasing emphasis on localisation and sustainable development. In addition to expanding local procurement and local hiring, many companies are cultivating technical and management talents for Malaysia through vocational training, university–industry partnerships and joint research and development initiatives.

Many enterprises are gradually shifting from simply “investing and building factories” to “building shared industrial ecosystems”, with greater emphasis on technology transfer, supply chain collaboration and long-term social contributions.

The East Coast Rail Link, undertaken by Chinese enterprises, has created more than 20,000 jobs during the construction phase alone. It has trained more than 1,000 railway professionals for Malaysia and, through subcontracting, benefited thousands of local Malaysian enterprises.

Beyond trade and investment, new quality productive forces are also promoting cultural exchanges between China and Malaysia in more flexible and dynamic ways. In June this year, I attended the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition 2026 Southeast Asia Regional Competition and China–Malaysia Youth Innovation Competition. More than 6,000 students and over 2,000 projects from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and other countries participated in the competition. The projects covered areas including smart agriculture, green technology, digital transformation and healthcare. During the competition, young participants exchanged entrepreneurial ideas and inspired one another with new approaches to innovation. Their enthusiasm for embracing the digital age was fully on display. The event also demonstrated how scientific and technological cooperation is becoming a new bond of cultural and educational exchanges.

There is an old Chinese saying: “The new waves carry on those before them.” Young people are the hope of a country and a nation, and the owners of the future. All of you represent a new wave of Malaysian youth. You are now at the most creative stage of your lives, and the future of China–Malaysia relations rests in your hands.

China attaches great importance to exchanges between the young people of China and Malaysia. We are working to build multi-level platforms for youth interaction, foster greater mutual understanding and consensus among young people of both countries, and jointly respond to the changes of our times.

Malaysia is an important destination for Chinese students studying abroad, and the enthusiasm of Chinese young people for studying and engaging in exchanges in Malaysia continues to grow. At the same time, the “Study in China” program continues to attract many young Malaysians to pursue their studies in China.

China has established several Confucius Institutes in Malaysia to provide Chinese-language education. The Malay language education in China is also becoming increasingly well developed. At present, 15 Chinese universities offer Malay as a degree programme. Language education has enabled young people from China and Malaysia to communicate with greater ease and understanding.

Meanwhile, a growing range of programs such as the China–Malaysia Youth Language and Culture Interaction Camp 2026 and the China–Malaysia Intervarsity Chinese Debating Competition has further enriched exchanges between the young people of our two countries. Joint laboratories established by Chinese and Malaysian universities are also operating steadily, providing platforms for young researchers to pursue scientific and technological innovation.

Looking ahead, I sincerely hope that young people from China and Malaysia will strengthen communication and cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, and work together as contributors of China–Malaysia friendship, promoters of practical cooperation and builders of a shared future.

The Embassy will also make every effort to promote closer two-way exchanges between young people of our two countries, so that more students from China and Malaysia can meet, exchange ideas and spark new inspiration.

In closing, I look forward to having more opportunities to communicate and engage with all of you in the future.

I wish you every success in your studies and work, and good health.

Thank you.

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