China a key buyer of Cambodia's agricultural products

China is one of the key importers of Cambodia's agricultural produce in 2022, according to a report released by the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Thursday.

The report said China had purchased a number of Cambodian agricultural products, particularly milled rice, yellow bananas, mangoes, cassava, cashew nuts, corns, longans and pepper, among others.

It added that 689,702 tons of Cambodian agricultural products had been shipped to China during the January-November period in 2022.

Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina said China still has much potential to absorb more Cambodian agricultural products, saying that neither country has yet used the maximum potential in this sector.

"Cambodia and China have solid agricultural cooperation, and we have exported rice, mangoes, bananas, and, most recently, longans to China," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"I would like to encourage all stakeholders of the two countries to promote closer and closer cooperation to find new, better, and more effective ways to respond to the potential we have," he added.

Tina said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), which took effect in January last year, have injected a new impetus into the development of Cambodia's agriculture.

"The RCEP and the CCFTA are all free trade agreements that mutually open the market in all participating countries, thus giving farmers choices to export their agricultural products to various countries," he said. "Both FTAs will contribute not only to the agriculture sector's growth, but also to the farmers' welfare and prosperity."

Agriculture is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy. The sector contributed 24.4 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021.