China agrees to double rice import quota: PM
China has agreed to double its rice import quota, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced at the opening of the first Chinese-Cambodia investment forum in Nanning, China on September 12, offering a much-needed boost to Cambodia’s beleaguered rice sector. The prime minister said China’s government had officially accepted the Kingdom’s request that it increase its annual rice imports to 200,000 tonnes, from 100,000 tonnes, starting this year, adding that negotiations were underway to increase China’s imports of other agricultural products. Sok Puthyvuth, president of the Cambodian Rice Federation, welcomed the prime minister’s announcement, but said the deal was not yet set in stone. “The doubling of the rice quota is the framework we have been working with, but it is up to the Ministry of Commerce to make sure the deal is finalised,” he said.
