CHINESE ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian today hinted at a possible increase in the purchase of palm oil and palm oil-related products from Malaysia soon.

The envoy said China, Malaysia’s largest palm oil and palm oil-related products importer, was keen on increasing its trade number with Malaysia.

“Hope this year will witness more purchase of Malaysian palm oil and related products by Chinese suppliers.

“Please keep your fingers crossed for some good news to come,” he said at a roundtable with the media at the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The good news could come as early as the end of this month, when Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad visits China for the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

He is expected to witness the signings of memoranda of understanding on the sidelines of the event, including on palm oil.

Bai Tian reiterated that China does not impose a glass ceiling on the purchase of Malaysian palm oil and palm oil-related products.

“We have been encouraging Chinese buyers to buy more Malaysia palm oil and related products.

“We think Malaysian palm oil is very competitive and also of very good quality. There’s a huge demand for palm oil and related products in China,” he said.

China is also enthusiastic about the upstream and downstream cooperation of the commodity, he added.

Malaysia’s palm oil exports to China rose 9.3% to 1.81 million tonnes from January to August 2018 compared with 1.65 million tonnes exported during the same period in 2017.

In 2017, Malaysia exported 2.87 million tonnes of palm oil and palm oil derivatives worth RM9.42 billion to China. – Bernama, April 18, 2019.