The trade volume between Cambodia and China reached $1.7 billion in the first two months of 2023, down 15.6 percent year-on-year, according to a report from the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia.

China remained Cambodia’s largest trading partner, followed by the United States, Vietnam and Thailand, the report said.

Trade with China accounted for 24 percent of Cambodia’s total trade volume of $6.8 billion during the January-February period.

The country’s main export products to China were milled rice, bananas, mangos, cassava, fishery and apparel, while it imported mostly garment raw materials, machinery, vehicles, foodstuffs, electronics and medicines, etc from Beijing.

The Cambodia-China Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) will accelerate the export of Cambodian agricultural products to China, said Penn Sovicheat, spokesman at the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia.

Cambodia has plans to establish private commercial centers in five locations in China this year, which will play an important role in promoting the country’s potential products and attracting China’s investment in Cambodia.

The centers will also promote investment law and environmental investment, especially will act as a business-matching place between investors and businessmen on investment in Cambodia, he said.

“The commercial centers will play important roles in promoting products to the China market and Cambodia’s potential investment opportunity to investors out there,” he said.

“The FTA and RCEP not only open up more markets for Cambodian-made goods to the Chinese market, but also attract Chinese investment in Cambodia,” he said.

The Cambodia-China Free Trade and RCEP agreements, in which Cambodia and China are signatory members, entered into force in 2022.

Cambodia and China announced in February the launch of the “Cambodia-China Friendship Year’ events to celebrate the 65th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the Friendship Year, to usher in a new era of building a high-quality, high-level, and high-standard Cambodia-China Community with a Shared Future, to carry forward the most treasured ironclad friendship through coming generations.

“No matter how the international situation changes, the two sides will unswervingly deepen their close ironclad friendship and develop win-win practical cooperation for mutual benefits, with a view to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” a statement said.

The commitment to building a shared future will give an impetus to building confidence in investors and businessmen from Cambodia and China, said Lim Heng, vice president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce.

“Building a community of a shared future, the implementation of bilateral free trade agreement, and mega-regional trade pact -RCEP will give Cambodia the possibility of exporting agricultural products and processed products to China, particularly attracting investment flows from China,” Heng told Khmer Times.