NANNING: Bilateral trade between Malaysia and China is expected to increase to US$160 billion (RM671.7 billion) by 2020, Second International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said.
He said explained that the bilateral trade between the two countries last year was US$87 billion (RM365 billion), adding that he was confident it would increase up to US$100 billion (RM420 billion) this year on improved global economy.
Thus, he said, Malaysian companies should utilise the automotive sector in China as it was huge and demanding.
"The Malaysian automotive market is smaller compared to that in China. Last year we only recorded sales of 580,000 units compared to 28 million units sold in China.
"The way we see it, there's a big potential in other provinces in China, such as the second and third-tier cities of Kunming, Chengdu, Zhuhai, Nanjing and Tienjing," he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Pavilion and Labuan as the "City of Charm" at the 14th China-Asean Expo (CAEXPO) here today.
Labuan has been chosen as Malaysia's City of Charm for the CAEXPO 2017 while Brunei as country of honour.
According to Ong, Labuan was chosen due to its strategic location next to Brunei aside from its many tourists attractions.
He said Malaysia's participation in CAEXPO was one of the strategies to strengthen its bilateral trade with China.
"To further strengthen the relationship between the two countries, government officials from Guangxi are expected to visit Malaysia in October to discuss more on student exchange programme on civil and mechanical engineering."
Earlier, Ong visited the China Post Asean E-Commerce logistics centre, which will provide a platform for Malaysian companies to introduce their products and services into China.
The four-day expo, which is organised annually in Nanning since 2004, is a platform to promote cooperation between China and Asean in the fields of trade, investment and tourism.
The theme for this year’s CAEXPO is “Jointly Build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Promote Regional Economic Integration through tourism”.
Trade between Malaysia and China expanded by 27.7 per cent to RM163.02 billion for the first half of 2017, with higher imports from China such as petroleum products, electrical and electronic products as well as machinery, equipment and parts.