KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (AFP) - China's President Hu Jintao arrived in Malaysia Tuesday for his first round of regional diplomacy ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in neighbouring Singapore.

Hu, the first Chinese leader to visit Malaysia in 15 years, was given a state welcome and a 21-gun salute at Parliament Square, where he was greeted by King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and Prime Minister Najib Razak.

"I really feel we can move forward together," said Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, nephew of former premier Abdul Razak Hussein who established diplomatic relations with China 35 years ago.

"I believe the bilateral and personal relationship between Hu and Najib will be translated into a plan of action, it is not just rhetoric," he told reporters.

Najib, who is Abdul Razak Hussein's son, visited China in June and signed a joint action plan on strategic cooperation. On Wednesday the two leaders will hold talks and then sign several undisclosed agreements.

A senior finance ministry official told AFP that one of the agreements involves the sale of a stake in leading Malaysian palm oil producer Sime Darby, and another would see a major transport project awarded to a Chinese company.

On Thursday Hu will travel to Singapore to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit with US President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and other regional leaders.

Chia Oai Peng from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman said his visit reflected an ongoing shift towards China by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"China is coming to the region to make friends and it wants to get Malaysia as a close ally," she said.

"For China it means having a key friend in ASEAN and the region, which will rely less on the US and Japan from now on."

"Greater cooperation also means a bigger market for Chinese goods in Southeast Asia and also a realignment of regional loyalties, with China competing with the US and Japan for greater trade and political influence."

K.S. Balakrishnan, senior lecturer at University Malaya, said Hu's visit provided Malaysia with an opportunity to cement close ties with the region's rising economic power.

He said the multicultural nation can also capitalise on its large ethnic Chinese population, which plays a prominent role in business.

However, Balakrishnan said that irritants remain, including the disputed Spratlys, a group of islands and atolls in the South China Sea claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

"Militarily, we fear China due to the Spratlys problem," he said, referring to deadly armed confrontations over the islands in the past.

Before departing for Singapore, Hu will travel south to tour the historic enclave of Malacca.

China's influence over Malacca dates back to the 15th century when it was an important stopping point for the trading fleet of the great Chinese admiral and explorer Zheng He.

The Chinese who settled in Malacca at that time intermarried with the local Malay people. Their descendents created their own culture and are known as "peranakan".

China became Malaysia's biggest trading partner this year, surpassing Singapore, the United States and Japan.

Between January and September, bilateral trade reached 89 billion ringgit (26 billion dollars), accounting for nearly 13 percent of Malaysia's total trade during the period. (By M. Jegathesan/ AFP)