China signs MOU to purchase more palm oil

BEIJING, April 25 – A memorandum of understanding (MOU) have been signed here today between the China Chamber of commerce of Foodstuff and Native Produce (CFNA) and Malaysian Palm Oil Council to increase palm oil trade.

In a statement today, the Ministry of Primary Industries announced that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will increase purchase of the commodity from Malaysia by an additional 1.9 million ton in the span of 5 years (2019-2023).

Both the Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang witnessed the MOU signing ceremony.

Objective for the signing of the MOU is to increase trade and cooperation in the palm oil sector between China and Malaysia, according to the statement.

China is one of Malaysia’s main trade partner for palm oil

China is Malaysia’s main trade partner for the commodity after the European Union (EU) and India. Malaysia exported 3.07 million ton (RM8.4 billion) of palm oil in 2018.

On November 23, 2015, the Malaysian and Chinese government signed The Cooperation Programme to Enhance Bilateral Trade, Economic and Investment Cooperation (Trade Agreement) and Enhancing Cooperation in Production Capacity and Investment Agreement in Putrajaya. However, export of the commodity to China for year 2018 shown a decrease of 10.8% compared to 2017.

The signing of the Enhancing Pal Oil Trade and Cooperation MOU today will rectify that situation as it increases China’s purchase of Malaysian palm oil by 1.9 million ton over 5 years estimated to be worth RM4.56 billion.

–NMT