Chinese customs authorized imports of fresh coconuts from Cambodia and fresh avocados from Venezuela starting on Monday, according to a notice by China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC).
The moves followed the visits of Cambodian and Venezuelan leaders to China in September, which delivered tangible outcomes.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet paid an official visit to China from September 14 to 16.
China and Cambodia have further consolidated their decades-long friendship and pledged further efforts to build a community with a shared future, with a series of consensuses reached during the prime minister’s recent visit to Beijing.
The two countries agreed to promote cooperation based on the “Diamond Hexagon” cooperation framework, which covers political cooperation, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security and people-to-people exchanges, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
A view of Cambodian coconuts Photo: VCG
According to Cambodian customs data, in the first eight months of 2023, bilateral trade stood at $8.09 billion, up 1.1 percent year-on-year. Cambodia’s exports to China rose 16.8 percent to reach $940 million.
With more Cambodian agricultural products being exported to Chinese market, China has become the main export market for Cambodian rice, fresh bananas, mangoes and longan.
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and ASEAN members rose from more than $100 billion in 2004 to $975.3 billion in 2022. The two nations have been each other’s largest trading partners for three years in a row.
The visit by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to China followed the visit of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros, who paid a state visit to China from September 8 to 14.
China and Venezuela signed a number of cooperation agreements, and they reached a consensus on Belt and Road cooperation and closer partnership in trade, education, tourism, space, civil aviation, sci-tech and the media, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on September 14.
A view of Venezuelan avocados Photo: VCG
During the first eight months of the year, bilateral trade rose 17.6 percent year-on-year to reach 18.27 billion yuan ($2.5 billion), according to data from the GAC.
(Global Times)
