Malaysia will sign a major defense contract to acquire Littoral Mission Ships from China during Prime Minister Najib Razak's visit to Beijing next week.

The Malaysia's Ministry of Defense's Facebook post revealed.

"On Nov. 5, 2016, the Defense Ministry will sign a contract for the procurement of Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) with SASTIND (the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense), which is an important part of the schedule during the Prime Minister's official visit to China," the Facebook post quotes Malaysia's Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as saying.

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However, this post was immediately removed after Reuters reportedly inquired with Defensee Ministry's spokesperson for comment.

Littoral Mission Ships are basically fast patrol vessels that can be equipped with a helicopter flight deck and carry missiles. They are mainly used for coastal security, maritime patrol and surveillance.

Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Friday that he was "unclear on the specifics of the situation."

Lu said China and Malaysia "continue to cooperate and communicate regularly across all spheres."

If Malaysia does buy Littoral Mission Ships, then it will be a first major defense deal with China in recent decades. 

The deal will be a significant one, considering that Malaysia is one of the claimants of South China Sea, and shares bitter relationship with China over the sensitive issue.

The report about the defense deal comes at a time when Malaysia's ties with US have been going through a period of strain. This could be because of US Department of Justice's decision to file lawsuits against Malaysian state-owned financial company, which was apparently founded by Najib.

Interestingly, it was China that bailed out the scandal hit state- owned firm with a $2.3 billion deal. China's financial bailout apparently helped in brining fresh thaw in bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Ahead of his visit, the Malaysian prime minister said Malaysia was committed to improve relationship with China and pushing bilateral ties to "new high."

TagsMalaysia, Malaysia and China, Najib Razak, Najib Razak's Visit to China