The trade volume between Cambodia and China surged 15.6 percent year-on-year to $6.97 billion in the first seven months of this year, a General Department of Customs and Excise report said.

China accounted for 21 percent of the Kingdom’s total trade volume of $32.8 billion during the January-July period in 2022.

The surge in trade volume helped China retain its position as the largest trading partner of Cambodia.

The other top trading partners of the Kingdom were the United States, followed by Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore during the period.

Cambodia’s main exports to China included milled rice, bananas, mangos, cassava, fishery and apparel.

The Kingdom also imported garment raw materials, machinery, vehicles, foodstuffs, electronics, medicines, etc from China during the period.

While talking about the increase in imports, Penn Sovicheat, Ministry of Commerce’s undersecretary of state and spokesman, told Khmer Times that the trade cooperation between Cambodia and China has been rising despite the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“China is a huge market for Cambodia, and despite the pandemic, our bilateral trade volume has steadily increased,” Sovicheat said.

“The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), which came into force this year, played a big role in improving trade relations.

“The pacts have been enhancing the trade relations between both countries,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the bilateral trade and investment volumes between both nations would continue to grow in the coming years due to the positive impact of the two trade agreements.

Sovicheat is also optimistic about a further improvement in trade ties with China as the Kingdom was keen to export more agricultural products to Beijing in the coming years.

He also hailed the roles of CCFTA and RCEP for enhancing the country’s agricultural and fruit exports to China.

RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 Asean member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Recently, Prime Minister Hun Sen also pointed out the significance of RCEP while speaking at the Asean Day. The Prime Minister said RCEP would be a booster for regional and global economic recovery in the post-Covid era.

Mr Hun Sen said the full and effective implementation of the RCEP agreement is a priority.

RCEP will stimulate economic recovery in the post-pandemic era, create jobs, and strengthen the supply chain in the region and the world as a whole, he said.

“As the chair of Asean 2022, Cambodia will work closely with RCEP countries to promote the full and effective implementation of the agreement to intensify the facilitation of cross-border trade movements further,” the Premier said.

According to an Asian Development Bank’s study, the RCEP will increase the member economies’ incomes by 0.6 per cent by 2030, adding $245 billion annually to regional income and 2.8 million jobs to regional employment.

Meanwhile, Ky Sereyvath, director-general of the Institute of China Studies at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that RCEP and CCFTA have significantly boosted the trade volume between the two Asian nations.

“Through RCEP and the CCFTA, I think Cambodia can be a hub-and-spoke model to distribute goods from China to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region in the future,” he told Xinhua.

Last month a report from the Council for the Development of Cambodia said the Kingdom attracted fixed-asset investment of $1.29 billion from China in the first half of 2022.

China remained the top foreign investor in Cambodia, accounting for 43 percent of the total investment of $2.99 billion the country approved during the first six months of this year, CDC said.

The sectors that attracted investment during the period were agriculture and agro-industry, manufacturing, tourism, and infrastructure.

Adur Pradeep(August 12, 2022). Cambodia-China trade volume surges 15.6% to $6.97 billion. Khmer Times. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501130690/cambodia-china-trade-volume-surges-15-6-to-6-97-billion/