Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's endeavour in building closer ties with China will not affect the national sovereignty, instead it would further strengthen Malaysia''s economic prosperity, Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said.

He said being home to 1.3 billion people, China boasted an enormous consumer power for Malaysia to tap into.

"As Malaysia is a small country with only 30 million people, by fostering relations with a big economic power, it will gain the respect of other big countries. Datuk (Seri) Najib is a wise leader and this is the nation''s strength.

"In terms of national sovereignty, I do not see it had been compromised or affected in anyway by having strong ties with China," he told reporters after chairing the State Executive Council meeting here today.

He was commenting on a statement by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the Malays and Umno had more reasons to be afraid of Najib's reliance on China than the DAP.

Every prime minister has his own way in pursuing the country''s economic prosperity, Idris said, adding that as for Najib, he moved with the times by adopting a open policy, providing an opportunity for anyone or any country that could help Malaysia develop its economy.

Besides China, Najib has also strengthened ties with India, which has about 1 billion people, which could be translated into a tremendous consumer power to help spur Malaysia''s economic prosperity.

"When Datuk (Seri) Najib boosts Malaysia''s ties with China and India, he links up one-third of the world population with ASEAN''s population of 3.5 billion to make up half of the world''s population, that''s our strength," he said.

-- BERNAMA