Sarawak-China trade reached RM15.8 bln last year

KUCHING: Total trade value between Sarawak and China reached RM15.8 billion last year with Sarawak’s export to China registered at RM10.1 billion.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg in pointing this out on Thursday night here said business collaboration between Sarawak and China are in liquefied natural gas ( LNG) and petroleum products, palm oil, timber products and electrical components, manufactured goods, machinery and food.

“Sarawak and China have also signed numerous MoUs on investment, trade and economic cooperation. The recent and most prominent ones were with Xian LONGi Materials with an estimated investment of RM1.06 billion and Comtec Solar Systems Group Ltd which invested about RM1.2 billion,” he said at the 69th anniversary celebration of the founding of China at a hotel here.

His text of speech was read by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

Abang Johari said the bilateral relationship between Malaysia and China had grown steadily since 1974 with Malaysia being China’s largest trading partner among other Southeast Asian (Asean) countries.

“China is also the leading source of FDI for Malaysia at US$ 3.38 billion, ahead of the United States, Japan and Singapore.

“Malaysia’s export to China was recorded at 13.15 per cent of the total export valued at RM53.1 billion and China is the biggest importing country for Malaysia at 19.81 per cent valued at RM69.2 billion in the first half of this year,” he added.

Abang Johari said that the relationship between Sarawak and China dated back to the 15th century during China’s Admiral Cheng Ho’s expedition across Southeast Asia.

“We have a Chinese Museum at the Kuching Waterfront to document our past good relationship with China and showcase the history of Chinese settlements in Sarawak.

“To commemorate the special relationship between Sarawak and China, we have the Friendship Park built in Jalan Song here,” he said.

He noted that China experienced phenomenal growth unmatched by any other country since Deng Xiaoping took office as premier in 1978. China opened itself to the global market and became a world economic powerhouse, he said, adding that “China is not looking back”.

“We can see that China is trying to share its successes with other countries. A number of big construction projects in Sarawak, notably our hydro dams, were implemented with China’s engineering expertise and resources,” said Abang Johari.

He said he had recently learnt from China in developing its modern transportation system and the development of clean energy to power public transport.

The Chief Minster added that Sarawak is also learning from China in terms of using digital technology to develop the Internet of Things ( IoT) to drive the digital economy.

“We hope that China will continue to grow as a strong country that is able to lead the world’s development in a fair and just manner. China is a strong ally for Sarawak in trade as well as cultural exchange.

“Sarawak is looking forward to working together with China and forming a greater partnership with China in our effort to transform Sarawak into a digital economy,” he said.