KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) secured a total of RM2.44bil of potential sales with nine major Chinese importers during the recent roundtable meeting held in conjunction with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's visit to China.
In a statement, the trade agency said among the products the importers were interested to source from Malaysia included palm oil and relevant products, edible bird's nests, food and beverages, durian and iron products.
“Matrade treads on the heels to the latest supply and demand trends, pairing Chinese importers with Malaysian suppliers promptly.
"Besides that, Matrade offers assistances to the importers in reaching out to Malaysian suppliers virtually or physically,” said Matrade CEO Datuk Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz.
China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, and makes up 17.1% share of Malaysia's total trade.
In 2022, Malaysia's exports to China surpassed the RM200bil mark for the first time while imports were valued at RM276.5mil.
Over the January to February 2023 period, trade with China narrowed 2.1% to RM70.82bil as compared with the corresponding period in 2022.
Exports also fell 9.1% to RM28.33bil on lower exports of iron and steel products, petroleum products as well as palm oil and palm-oil-based agriculture products.
However, increased exports were seen for E&E products, metalliferous ores and metal scrap as well as LNG
Imports from China edged up by 3.6% to RM41.49bil during the period as compared with the same period in 2022.
