Malaysia moves to protect local firms as cheap Chinese goods fill market

Malaysia is stepping up scrutiny of foreign-run businesses amid concerns from local operators over competition from China. The government wants to retain Chinese investment, technology and affordable consumer goods, while assuring local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that foreign competitors are not subject to different rules.Former trade and investment minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, now chairman of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, said government social media analysis had identified concerns over Chinese businesses as a significant issue before the Johor-state-election" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="138807" data-entity-type="event">Johor state election earlier this month.“We did a sentiment analysis one week before Johor. One of the top five issues is China coming in. The survey was done for politics, we just flipped through [it] last week and [it was] still a major issue,” Zafrul told This Week in Asia.