KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia - China will encourage its enterprises to step up cooperation with Malaysia's easternmost state of Sabah, said China's top legislator Wu Bangguo on Wednesday.

The pledge was made during a meeting between Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), and Musa Aman, chief minister of Sabah State of Malaysia.

Wu is paying a stopover visit to Kota Kinabalu, capital of the Sabah state, before heading for Fiji, the last stop of his four-nation tour which also involves Iran, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

China encourages relevant provinces and cities to conduct mutually-beneficial cooperation with Sabah state in such areas as infrastructure, port construction and manufacturing, and supports Chinese enterprises to take positive attitudes to explore market in the state, said Wu.

As the Sabah state has rich tourist resources, the two sides should make joint efforts to make tourism a new growth point for pragmatic cooperation, Wu said.

On China-Malaysia relations, Wu said China has always fostered bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, and will work together with the Malaysian side to deepen political trust and win-win cooperation so as to bring about benefits for the two peoples.