REUTERS, Kuala Lumpur

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday called for Asian nations to unite in resisting geopolitical confrontation, unilateralism and protectionism, as he aims to consolidate ties with some of China’s closest neighbours amid a deterioration of relations with the US.

Xi is in Malaysia as part of a three-nation Southeast Asian trip that includes Vietnam and Cambodia.

China and Malaysia reached a consensus on deepening cooperation in various fields, Xi said after witnessing the exchange of 31 agreements with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ranging from trade and tourism to railway transportation and agriculture. No details were provided for the agreements.

“In the face of shocks to the current international order and economic globalisation, our two nations will stand united with other countries in the region to jointly resist the undercurrents of geopolitical and camp-based confrontation, overcome the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism, and safeguard the promising prospects for development in our shared Asian home,” Xi said at a function with Anwar.

He urged Malaysia and other countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc to jointly resist decoupling, supply chain disruptions and “excessive tariffs” with openness and greater cooperation, China’s state-run CCTV reported.

Xi’s comments come after US President Donald Trump, who took office in January, shocked markets by imposing sweeping tariffs on countries across the world. While some of the tariffs have since been delayed, Beijing faces 145 percent duties.

Xi did not directly refer to the United States in his remarks in Kuala Lumpur.

As part of his “America First” policy, Trump has also pulled the US out of the World Health Organization, hollowed out USAID and halted international aid.

China has said it is “tearing down walls” and expanding its circle of trading partners amid the trade war.

With an additional tariff of 24 percent on goods shipped to the US, Malaysia was among several Southeast Asian nations facing hefty US levies before Trump announced his 90-day pause. Malaysian officials have begun reaching out to the US for a reprieve.

Anwar said China remained Malaysia’s most significant trading partner and continued to be a “rational, strong and reliable” ally during upheaval in global geopolitics.