By P PREM KUMAR &  D KANYAKUMARI 

Total trade between Malaysia and China rose 24.8% amounting to RM212.94 billion between January and September 2017, a sharp increase compared to the 4.4% growth recorded for the entire 2016.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Malaysia’s exports for the first nine months rose 35.3% to RM91.87 billion, while imports improved 17.9% to RM121.08 billion.

“China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for the last eight years,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Mustapa was responding to a query from Pendang MP Datuk Othman Abdul, who asked on the total export figures from Malaysia to China up to August 2017.

In 2016, Malaysia’s trade with China stood at RM240.91 billion, an improvement of 4.4% compared to 2015.

Mustapa said major exports to China are electrical and electronic (E&E) products (RM36.59 billion), chemicals and chemical products (RM10.3 billion), petroleum products (RM10.37 billion), rubber products (RM4.3 billion) and liquefied natural gas (RM4.12 billion).

As of end-2016, about 220 investments from Chinese firms were approved in the manufacturing sector, valued at RM14.2 billion.

The investments from China have created over 33,020 employment opportunities “Investment activities from China in the manufacturing sector is continuously improving,” he said.

From the realised Chinese investments, the base metal industry recorded the highest investment of RM6.4 billion, followed by the E&E sector at RM4.7 billion, trailed by textile and textile products at RM560.9 million.

China is ranked eighth in approved investments in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia. Japan, the US and Singapore are among leading foreign investors in the country.

Last January, the ministry had said that trade between China and Malaysia is expected to hit the US$100 billion mark in 2017 after it dipped to US$86.7 billion in 2016.

Malaysia and China had jointly set a target of reaching bilateral trade of US$160 billion by 2020.