Malaysia-China trade hits RM191.65 billion in Jan-Oct

KUALA LUMPUR: Bilateral trade between Malaysia and China from January to October 2016 hit RM191.65 billion, up 1.2 per cent from the same period last year.

For the same period, exports fell 7.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM77.40 billion while imports rose 7.9 per cent y-o-y to RM114.25 billion, said the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) in a statement yesterday.

“Electrical and electronics products contributed 42.7 per cent to the total exports, worth RM43.22 billion, followed by chemicals and chemical products (10.4 per cent), petroleum products (10.2 per cent), palm oil and palm-based products (six per cent) and manufactures of metal (4.5 per cent),” it said.

For the first 10 months of the year, the trade deficit widened to RM36.84 billion from RM22.51 billion in the same period last year, it said.

International Trade and Industry (MITI) Deputy Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong attributed the lower export growth to the downtrend in commodity prices.

“The weakening commodity prices, including oil and gas prices, have posted a challenge to the trade,” he told a press conference after officiating the China-Asean Small and Medium-sized Enterprise ( SME) Trade Promotion Platform (CASTPP) yesterday.

However, he believed the recent official visit by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to China would help to balance the trade between the two countries as palm oil prices have shown signs of improvement following the state visit.

It was reported that China had expressed a positive response towards increasing oil palm imports from Malaysia after Najib’s October visit.

Meanwhile, Chua said efforts by Matrade, such as its participation in more than eight promotions and fairs thus far this year, had also helped to increase the SMEs’ exports to China.

“The sales generated from the eight events in China reached RM1.6 billion, up around 10 to 15 per cent from the previous year,” he said.

He revealed that the Malaysia Promotion Programme in Shanghai last month also registered more than US$60 million (RM268 million) in sales.

“We are actively seeking to grow our business in Malaysia through our blended digital creative, technology, and consulting capabilities. We are looking forward to doing more ground-breaking work for our clients as the opportunities continue rolling in,” Lee said.

As to what extent Malaysia’s office can be the main source of revenue for VML, Lee said that as an agency with on-ground presence in Southeast Asia (SEA) and India, Malaysia is a key market in the overall strategic roadmap.

“Malaysia allows us to build on the excellent results achieved in other SEA markets. We definitely foresee VML Malaysia growing into a significant pillar of our regional presence, both in revenues and capabilities,” he said.

On the challenges ahead from the competition, Lee said there are a handful of challenges in Malaysia, just like in other Asian markets like Indonesia and India.

“The first is the recognition that digital is not just another channel, but can in fact be a game changer for brands. There is an opportunity to educate the industry about that. The second key challenge is in finding the best talent and creating a strong team of digital practitioners,” said Lee.

Lee noted that the work VML has done is testament to its commitment towards driving value at every point of the customer journey, with its main differentiator being the ability to bring strategic thought to the table when achieving this.

“Whether it is executing a website brief or a campaign challenge, our expertise lies in understanding the overall digital ecosystem and going beyond just answering the brief. This allows us to recommend and deliver solutions that enable our client organisations to fully embrace digital,” Lee said.

Founded in 1992 and globally headquartered in Kansas City, VML has more than 2,300 employees with principal offices in 26 locations across six continents. — Bernama