KUANTAN, Malaysia, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- As Malaysians marked the 61st National day on Friday, many working at the Alliance Steel company here were joined by their colleagues from China to celebrate.

A grand performance was held at the Alliance Steel Friday evening, attracting some 1,000 Malaysian and Chinese employees. The event also provided opportunities for the local staff to show the workplace to their families.

It was the first time that the 24-year-old Muhamad Fariduddin Bin Afandi to bring his wife into the compound of Alliance Steel since he started working here three months ago.

Fariduddin's wife was impressed by the modern factory and she was satisfied with his work here. "The work is not so difficult, and the pay is good," she said.

With an investment volume of 5.6 billion ringgit (1.4 billion U.S. dollar) and an annual output of 3.5 million ton of steel products, the Alliance Steel was the first project materialized under the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, which itself is a government-to-government cooperation project between Malaysia and China.

Alliance Steel has so far employed some 2,500 Malaysian staff, said Steve Hu, deputy general manager of the company, adding that the company would not succeed without the support of the Malaysian government and the participation of Malaysian people.

"We hope this kind of event could build up the sense of family among our Chinese and Malaysian staff and our company could better be integrated in Malaysia as part of our vision of In Malaysia, For Malaysia," he said.

"We hope the Alliance Steel could serve as a bridge for close cooperation between Malaysia and China," he said.