BEIJING, May 30 ― Malaysia and China have agreed that the search for MH370 must continue so as to provide answers for the next of kin of the 293 people on board the ill-fated flight.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang that Malaysia would continue with its search together with the help of other nations like China and Australia.

He also said Malaysia understood the need of the families to have answers to the tragedy.

“Malaysia wishes to express its sadness over the tragedy and expresses its sympathy to the next of kin of the victims,” he added.

Najib said this at a bilateral meeting with Li after his official welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People here yesterday evening.

Li said the next of kin were looking for “comforting answers” and China would do its part in helping to look for the plane.

He called on Malaysia to do all it could in its search for the Boeing 777 aircraft that went missing almost 80 days ago.

Najib and Li also agreed on the need to further enhance ties between their two nations in the face of various challenges.

Speaking to the Malaysian media later, Najib said he and Li agreed that the MH370 tragedy had affected their countries' relationship but both of them were confident that the friendship and ties between the two countries would be stronger.

Najib also said he raised several matters with Li and his delegation including the newly signed cooperation agreement between Proton and Jeely Corporation of China to produce cars for the Asean market in Malaysia.

“The two companies are still exploring how to go about to do this. It will probably be a new car based on a Jeely design,” he said.

Other matters raised were:

― Banning of export of milk and dairy products from Malaysia: Najib said he had urged the Chinese government to relook at this decision that took effect on May 1.

― Bird’s nest: Najib said he asked that the Chinese authorities allow the export of raw and uncleaned bird’s nest which is still banned.

― Xiamen University branch campus in Malaysia: Najib said the university was seeking financial assistance from the Chinese government to set up the campus with the first intake at the end of 2015 or early 2016.

― Setting up of an Immigration office in Xi'an: Najib said there was great potential for visitors as there were about 12 million Muslims living around Xian.

― Investments from China: Najib said the Chinese government agreed there was a need to increase investments in Malaysia. At present, Malaysian investments total US$6.3 billion (RM20.25 billion) while Chinese investments in Malaysia are just about US$1 billion (RM3.21 billion).

― Tension in South China Sea: The two countries agreed that the matter must be settled via negotiations and not doing anything that could cause further tension in the area.

Najib is scheduled to call on Chinese President Xi Jinping today.