Cambodia urges China to step up bilateral trade to $15 billion in 3 ways

The Royal Government of Cambodia has proposed new targets to increase bilateral trade with China to $15 billion. In a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the total trade volume between Cambodia and China reached more than $11 billion in 2021 and proposed increasing it to $15 billion, according to a statement. He asked China to continue to help Cambodia by importing Cambodian rice, longan and other agricultural products due to high demand in the Chinese market. He also suggested that China should continue to step up investment in Cambodia and increase the number of flights between the two countries to help revive tourism. Prime Minister Hun Sen further emphasized ways to promote the trading volume. First, there is a free trade agreement between Cambodia and China that has entered into force. Second, the free trade agreement between Asean and Korea and third, there is a comprehensive economic partnership in the region called RCEP, which came into force in January 2022, he said. He also suggested that China should consider helping the energy sector, which is important to support the Cambodian economy, especially in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine. Wang Yi stressed that China strongly supports Cambodia and thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen’s continued commitment to the one-China policy, and in particular, he stressed that China will do everything possible to develop the country. According to Wang Yi, China is a big market, so there may be a lot of demand. Regarding flights, he said they have returned to the normal level and China would consider increasing them between the two countries. On the energy sector, he said China will look into it. Last year, the two-way trade between Cambodia and China amounted to $11.19 billion, of which Cambodia’s export to China was worth $1.51 billion. According to a report from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, the country received a $1.29 billion fixed-asset investment from China in the first half of this year. China accounted for around 43 percent of the total investment of $2.99 billion that the Kingdom received in the first six months of 2022, the report said. This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources. Khmer Daily