A garment worker in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo: Nikkei)According to the data from Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce, the country’s exports to the world’s second largest economic nation in 2020 saw a year-on-year increase by 8.1 percent to over 1.08 billion USD.
Meanwhile, Cambodia spent roughly 7.03 billion USD on goods imported from China, down 6.9 percent compared to that in 2019.
The decrease in imports from China was mainly due to the slowdown of importing raw materials for garment factories because of the lockdown or restriction measures imposed to contain the COVID-19 spread.
Cambodia mostly exported agricultural products including milled rice, mangoes, and cassava to China, and imported industrial products, raw materials, and construction materials from China.
The two countries have placed high hope on the increase of the bilateral trade after their bilateral FTA was signed last October.
The agreement is expected to be ratified by the governments of both countries this year, aiming to make it come into effect as early as possible.
China is now Cambodia’s largest source of foreign direct investment and tourist as well as biggest trade partner. In 2019, the bilateral trade grew 27 percent from the previous year to 8.2 billion USD./.
VNA
