BEIJING, Jan 17 ― Malaysia's Ambassador to China Datuk Zainuddin Yahya has urged Malaysian companies to tap the huge Chinese e-commerce market to promote their products.
He said in the first three quarters of last year, Malaysia's trade with China in foodstuffs amounted to US$1.2 billion (RM5.31 billion), but Malaysia only exported US$350 million worth of foodstuffs to China.
“More efforts should be undertaken to encourage Malaysian exporters to sell more of their products to China. It is my fervent hope that the Chinese authorities would facilitate the importation of foodstuffs including tropical fruits from Malaysia,” he said.
Zainuddin pinted out that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had said China would buy more tropical fruits from Malaysia during his visit to Malaysia in November last year.
“Both countries should double efforts to work towards increasing the volume of trade to US$160 billion by 2017,” he said at the Chunbo Global Cooking School: Taste of Malaysia here today.
The event was jointly organised by Chinese e-commerce firm Beijing Chunbo Technology Co Ltd, Regal Plus (China) Co Ltd, a company which imports Malaysian food products, and the Agriculture Section of the Malaysian Embassy.
Tom yam soup, fried rice, durian sauce served with sticky rice and cucur durian were among the delicacies showcased to over 50 guests at the event, where Zainuddin's wife Datin Fairos Ishak was the guest chef.
Zainuddin said the number of internet users in China, which is growing from the 600 million currently, presents a great opportunity, but with competition in the online business becoming stiffer by the day, a product differentiation strategy could be used by companies to entice consumers. ― Bernama
