Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman has affirmed his country’s consistent stand to want the best possible resolution of the East Sea issue to maintain friendship and cordial relations in the region.

Anifah told reporters after a meeting with his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Putrajaya on August 1 that all parties should rely on international laws and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

All parties must respect the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), signed in 2002 by ASEAN and Chinese foreign ministers, he added.

According to FM Anifah, the visiting Chinese delegation and Malaysian officials discussed a wide range of issues including education, tourism, defence, security and combating transnational crime, besides their talks on improving bilateral relations.

The Chinese side invited Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to attend the China-ASEAN Expo next month.

He said Wang Yi informed him that Chinese President Xi Jinping is very keen to visit Malaysia. "So we are working closely in finding a suitable date," he noted.

The Chinese FM had an one-day official visit to Malaysia on August 1 during which he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.-VNA