In the last 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the Malaysia-China relations have progressed very fast, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Thursday.

In an interview in Kuala Lumpur, Abdullah said, "The relations between Malaysia and China are certainly very good. The bilateral relations cover all areas and activities, and also involve contacts at the highest level and then downward to ministers, government senior officials and ordinary people."

China and Malaysia enjoy good relations in the past 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties on May 31, 1974. The friendly cooperation in various fields has expanded rapidly in the past decade and more.

The trade volume between the two countries has increased rapidly in recent years. In 2003, Malaysia was china's 7th largest export market while China was Malaysia's 4th export market. Such bilateral relations have certainly benefited Malaysia as well as China, the prime minister said in satisfactory mood.

On enhancing bilateral relations, Badawi said: "I believe there is a good potential for improvement in various fields. while maintaining and strengthening the trade and investment cooperation,we shall go into intensive cooperation in areas of science and technology such as bio-technology, information and communication technology."

Turning to Malaysian domestic policy, he said, "We are addressing a number of problems, we want to eradicate completely our hard core poverty. We want to maintain very transparent and responsible economic management, we want to eradicate corruption, both in public as well as private sector."

"We also want to create new sources of wealth and income particularly in rural areas, we want to increase Malaysian competitiveness and we are also focusing on the development of the small and medium scale enterprises," he added.

Concerning the Palestine issue, he called on the parties concerned to implement the road map plan, stop violence and stop cycle of hatred.

"We are concerned about the military move by the Israeli troops and their attacks on civilians," he said.

The prime minister also appealed to the United Nations to play bigger role in the Palestine issue.

The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1544 on Wednesday condemning Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians in Rafah area.

A report from Rafah said Israel, defying international fury, expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years on Thursday after killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee camp.