Cambodia ratifies FTA with China, paving way for more fruit exports

According to a recent report from news website ASEAN Briefing, Cambodia’s National Assembly ratified a bilateral free trade agreement with China on Sept. 9, with the aim of increasing the flow of goods between the two countries by reducing or removing tariffs and non-tariff barriers. The China–Cambodia FTA is very broad in scope and covers numerous sectors, including trade, tourism, investment, transportation and agriculture. China has granted tariff-free status to 97.5% of Cambodian goods, while Cambodia has granted the same to 90% of Chinese goods, the highest figures out of any free trade negotiations between the two countries to date. Although the vast majority of Cambodian goods exported to China were already free of tariffs under the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area, the new China–Cambodia FTA extends the tariff-free status to cover 340 types of goods, including seafood products, garlic, cashew nuts and dried chiles. From January to May of 2021, Cambodian exports to China were ...