China continues to be Malaysia's largest trade partner with two-way trade hitting 83.6 billion RM (roughly 26 billion USD) in the first five months of this year, reported local media in Malaysia.

The figure made up 14 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s total trade of 597.2 billion RM in the reviewed period. Main items contributing to bilateral trade included electrical and electronics products, petroleum, chemicals and machinery.

Ong Chong Yi, Minister Counsellor for Economics at the Malaysian Embassy in China, encouraged more Chinese companies to invest in Malaysia, especially in halal, high technology, knowledge-based and capital-intensive industries, during a trade promotion conference on August 4 in Beijing, was quoted by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) revealed that investment from Chinese companies into Malaysia's manufacturing and services sectors hit 4 billion RM (1.24 billion USD) by June this year.

Five years ago, the investment volume was only 300 million RM, it added.

Last year, investment from Chinese firms in Malaysia grew by 193.3 percent year-on-year, the highest rise among ten ASEAN members.

China has been Malaysia's biggest trade partner since 2009, while Malaysia has become China's largest trade partner among ASEAN countries since 2008.

Both countries are set for 160 billion USD in the bilateral trade by 2017.-VNA