Malaysia-China Trade Rises To RM240.91 Bln In 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- The bilateral trade between Malaysia and China has increased 4.4 per cent to RM240.91 billion (US$54.28 billion) in 2016, the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) was told Thursday. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said exports accounted for RM98.56 billion of the amount, while imports were valued at RM142.35 billion. Malaysia's main exports to China were electrical and electronics goods (43.5 per cent), chemical products (12.1 per cent), petroleum products (7.5 per cent), palm-oil based products (six per cent) and steel products (4.9 per cent), it said in a written reply to a question from Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai). MITI said in 2016, China invested RM4.8 billion in the manufacturing sector compared with RM1.9 billion in 2015. It said China's invested in 33 projects in Malaysia 2016, with 10,147 jobs expected to be created, while in 2015, it invested in 17 projects and provided 5,127 jobs. Describing China's investments in Malaysia as very encouraging, MITI said China was Malaysia's second largest trading partner among ASEAN countries last year. "As the world's largest economic power, with a huge market of 1.3 billion people, China remains the focus of Malaysia's exports," it said. (US$1 = RM4.43) -- BERNAMA