Construction began in October on the Melaka Gateway, a $10 billion harbor project built on artificial islands that will include a new deep-sea port. Chinapower, a Chinese state-owned energy giant, is the project’s main investor, in partnership with local KAJ Development. The project includes stores, a theme park, marina, free-trade zone and industrial park.

Neighboring Singapore has long had a close defense relationship with the United States, which has deployed naval combat ships there since 2013. Analysts see China’s closer economic ties with Malaysia as an opportunity to strengthen its own maritime footprint in a crucial region.

“There’s the argument that China is not getting favorable treatment from Singapore, so why not try Malaysia?” said Johan Saravanamuttu, a Malaysia expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “With the Malacca Strait on one side and the South China Sea on the other, Malaysia is quite crucial.”