马来西亚总理马哈蒂尔在第七届华商大会开幕式上并发表主题演讲时说,亚洲国家无须担心中国在军事和经济领域上的扩展,因为今天的中国和以往的中国已经完全不一样。 他强调,散布世界各地的华商,其根始于中国,如今中国经济的崛起,让一些专家认为中国即将左右全球经济的走向。但是,马哈蒂尔认为, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 7th Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention, saying that Asian countries need not worry about China’s expansion in the fields of military affairs and economy because today China is completely different from China in the past. He emphasized that spreading Chinese businessmen from all over the world starts with China. Nowadays, with the rise of China’s economy, some experts think that China is about to move toward a global economy. However, according to Mahathir,