China Post is to issue a set of commemorative stamps entitled The 50th Anniversary of China-Malaysia Diplomatic Relations on May 31, 2024. With two pieces in set, the stamps will be jointly issued by China Post and its counterpart in Malaysia, featuring the images of a pine tree and a merbau tree (Intsia palembanica). The denomination of the whole set is 2.40 yuan, and the planned circulation is 6.65 million sets.

China established official diplomatic ties with Malaysia on May 31, 1974. As traditional friendly neighbors, the two countries have maintained a good momentum of development in their relationship. Their trade and investment have bucked the trend of global slowdown, and their cooperation in various fields has been constantly expanding and making significant achievements. In 2013, the two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership. And the consolidation and development of the partnership has played a positive role in the peaceful development of the two countries and the region ever since. In 2023, the two countries announced the establishment of China-Malaysia community with a shared future.

In China, pine trees are commonly found in ancient paintings and poems, symbolizing perseverance, elegance and longevity. The guest-welcoming pine depicted on the stamp is over 800 years old, with its branches stretching as if welcoming guests from afar, and therefore becoming a symbol of peace and friendship between China and the people around the world. Merbau trees, on the other hand, are large trees generally growing in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, and can therefore be found in the Malay Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia. They can grow up to 45 meters tall and yield hard wood, commonly used in shipbuilding and furniture manufacturing industry. Regarded as Malaysia’s national tree, merbau trees indicate the country’s achievements in sustainable management and biodiversity conservation, and show the importance of forests to its industry and economy.

This set of stamps is presented in an oil painting style and printed with high-precision multicolor offset printing technology to ensure the accuracy of the stamp designs and the brightness of the colors. The background of the stamps is printed with spot-color inks, while the Chinese characters of the title and frames are printed with pure golden ink, enhancing the sense of depth and dimensionality of the images through color adjustments.

The stamps are designed by Ma Fenghui, edited by Wang Jing, and printed by Beijing Stamp Printing House Company Limited.

This set of stamps will be available for six months at designated postal outlets nationwide, online mall of China Philately (https://jiyou.11185.cn), the mobile app of China Post, the WeChat Mall for philatelic products in the official WeChat account and the WeChat mini program of China Post Group. To present more information about the stamps, China Post will release the digital contents through the WeChat mini program “Encyclopedia of China Philately and Stamps”, where philatelists can learn more about the stamps via its AR function.