Despite the growing dissatisfaction among Chinese people over Malaysia's handling of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 investigation, Malaysia continues to believe that its ties with China continue to be solid.

Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister, said the ongoing investigation on the missing plane, which carried majority Chinese passengers, has not affected the investment and trade relationship of the two countries.

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The minister said China understood the difficult situation that Malaysia is now experiencing as the plane remains missing since 8 March and the anger of the family of the passengers further aggravates every day.

The Chinese government, he said, has been very grateful with how Malaysia is handling the search for the missing plane. However, a news item published in one of China's state media, said the Chinese government has demanded more transparency from the Malaysian government.

Although trade and investment have not felt the effects of the tragedy, Malaysia's tourism industry is set to suffer a major setback as Chinese tourists said they are not interested to visit the country as of this time.

In fact, two of China's major travel agencies have announced the cancelation of group travels to Malaysia as Chinese tourists became worried for their safety when they learned that they will be boarding a Malaysia Airlines plane to Kuala Lumpur.

Chinese tour operators said Chinese tourists' interest to travel to Malaysia suddenly dropped following the tragedy and bookings to Kuala Lumpur also dwindled even as travel agencies now offer huge discounts.

Tourism experts in Malaysia said the country's tourism industry will lose tremendously without the Chinese tourists. This year, at least 100 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel abroad, with a good portion looking at Southeast Asian destinations for their vacations.