During his five-day China visit, which concluded on Friday, the foreign minister had toured Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Syed Hamid said he was very much impressed by the example of Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong Province, a rural fishing village that has developed into a modern commercial city.

"Shenzhen is a very good example for our Iskandar Development Region (IDR) and other regional economic development areas," he said in an interview with China Daily.

In addition to learning, the foreign minister said another focus of his trip was to introduce IDR to Chinese people and attract investment.

He said he believed that Chinese economic influence and investment could assist in the development of the IDR.

An economic and trade delegation from Guangdong Province, Malaysia's largest trading partner in China, is set to visit the country in September, which will be led by Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua.

"We Malaysians always view China's development as a big business opportunity for us and the rest of Southeast Asia," he said.

He said he had explained the investment incentives offered by the IDR to the Chinese leadership and businesspeople.

"Our good friendship has always been embodied by lots of concrete projects," Syed Hamid said, hoping IDR will be another successful example of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Malaysia attaches great importance to its ties with China, having already sent eight cabinet ministers to China this year, the foreign minister said.

"We want very much to receive President Hu Jintao in Malaysia soon," he said, adding that he had renewed the invitation during this visit.

Hu last visited Malaysia in 2002 when he was vice-president.

Syed Hamid said he had been to China on many occasions when he was minister of law and minister of defense, but this visit, as foreign minister, was certainly the most "productive and fruitful".

Syed Hamid met Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday.

He said he had secured pledges from Yang to further promote economic ties and investment to help realize the goal of boosting bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2010.

"During the visit, Yang and I also agreed to push forward exchanges at all levels including top leaders, members of parliament, non-governmental organizations and young people," he said.