Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad visits the headquarters of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Aug 18. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad visited Hangzhou on Aug 18, as the first stop of a five-day state visit to China.

The 93-year-old leader toured the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's headquarters and met the executive chairman and founder Jack Ma, whilst also visiting carmaker Geely in Hangzhou.

It's great to see that digital technology has been applied in many fields of society and solved problems faced by human beings, according to Mohamad, adding that he would like Alibaba to share with him innovative ideas so as to bring benefits to Malaysian people.

Ma said the prime minister is one of the biggest technology-lovers among the foreign leaders that he has met. It was Mahathir's Multimedia Super Corridor, an initiative to transform Malaysia into a knowledge-based economy, that inspired him to create Alibaba 20 years ago.

In recent years, Alibaba has been actively introducing advanced modern digital technology to Malaysia.

In 2017, Alibaba's first trading and logistics hub was launched in Malaysia, aiming to facilitate local small and medium-sized companies in conducting global trade.

In June, Alibaba officially opened its first office in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad talks with Jack Ma, executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, on Aug 18. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

An aerial view of an urban scene in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]