Beijing's special identity card for its diaspora overseas is only meant for those born in China and had become Malaysians, says a Sabah Chinese body.

The United Sabah Chinese Communities Association (USCCA) was responding to rumours that the issuance of such a card could trigger mass emigration of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia to mainland China.

But USCCA president Susan Wong said most Chinese in Malaysia, especially in Sabah, would not be eligible for the card.

"There are those born in China but chose to migrate to Malaysia and acquired Malaysian citizenship. So these cards are for them to go back if they want to" she said.

"They are not for Chinese like me whose grandparents and great-grandparents came here long before Malaysia" she said after attending ceremony yesterday to accept a RM200,000 contribution to USCCA from the Sabah government, as well as RM1,500 from the Chinese consulate in Kota Kinabalu for a lion dance festival.

A Hong Kong-based news site had reported that China would be implementing the card system for overseas Chinese, including those in Southeast Asia.

The programme was expected to attract Malaysian Chinese developers to flock to China to help build new townships to accommodate the newcomers.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Musa Aman who was also present at the ceremony on Saturday, 3 February, said the successful organising of the Dragon, Unicorn and Lion Dance Festival 2018 shows the close ties between the Chinese community and the Sabah government.

"The Sabah state government is one that cares for all and we have over the years continued with our support for the Chinese community, including through annual allocations for places of worship and Chinese-medium schools" he said.

Praising the community for driving trade and entrepreneurship in Sabah, Musa said the business activities helped the state's economy.

He called on Sabahan Chinese to continue supporting the government's development programmes.

"The political stability that we enjoy today must be maintained for us to bring even more progress to the state and to ensure that programmes that are ongoing and planned can proceed without delay" he said.