IMPORTS from China will remain unchanged amid the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus, said Ong Kian Ming.

The deputy international trade and industry minister told The Malaysian Insight that there are no proposals to restrict Chinese imports.

“(There are) no proposals to restrict imports from China, given that there is no indication that the virus can be transmitted via physical goods.”

China is Malaysia’s largest trading partner.

According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, trade with the economic powerhouse in the first 11 months of 2019 stood at RM285.57 billion, a dip of just 0.7% from the same period a year earlier.

Imports from China, meanwhile, registered a marginal decrease of 0.2% to RM159.63 billion over the same period.

The ministry is expected to announce Malaysia’s full-year trade performance for 2019 on February 4.

In 2018, the country’s trade with China stood at RM313.8 billion, constituting 16.7% of total trade.

China is also Malaysia’s largest source of imports, accounting for 19.9% of total import volume in 2018.

Malaysia has temporarily suspended the issuance of travel visas to visitors from Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the viral outbreak.

The disease has killed at least 170 people in China and infected more than 7,000 worldwide. Malaysia is among the countries that have confirmed cases of infection, registering eight as of yesterday.

Putrajaya has announced that Malaysia will not stop the import of foodstuff from China despite the health scare.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub recently said the virus is transmitted from human to human, and does not involve food items.

“We have instructed border customs units to conduct random checks on items like meat and fruits coming into the country, although there is no evidence that these items are a source of transmission.

“It’s just a preventive measure.”

Malaysia does not import food products from Wuhan, where the virus was first detected late last month.

Since then, the virus has landed in more than 15 nations, with about 60 cases in Asia, Europe, North America, and most recently, the Middle East. No deaths have been attributed to it outside China.

The coronavirus is believed to have originated from wild animals like bats, but is now spreading between humans. Such transmission has been recorded in China, Vietnam, Germany and Japan. – January 31, 2020.