Phnom Penh, May 27 (IANS): Trade volume between Cambodia and China was valued at 3 billion US dollars in the first four months of 2021, up 19.7 per cent over the same period last year, according to a Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's report on Wednesday.

Cambodia's export to China reached 424 million dollars during the January-April period this year, up 42 per cent, while its import from China was 2.58 billion dollars, up 16.7 per cent, the report said.

Main items the Southeast Asian nation exported to China are milled rice, banana, dry rubber, cassava, fishery and apparels, as it imported from China mostly garment raw materials, machinery, vehicles, foodstuffs, electronics, medicines and cosmetics, among others, Xinhua reported.

Early this month, the kingdom began to export its fresh mangoes directly to China for the first time after the General Administration of Customs of China certified the first 37 mango orchards and five packaging plants to export Cambodian fresh mangoes to China.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the export of Cambodian fresh mangoes to China marked a significant breakthrough in gaining access to a huge market for Cambodian fresh fruits.

"The opportunity given by Chinese market will help to promote a larger trade volume and strengthen stronger relationship between the two countries under the recently-signed Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement," he told Xinhua.

Cambodia remains a sustainable source of agricultural products to the Chinese market, Sovicheat said, adding that the kingdom is ready to provide quality products such as fruits, rice and other agricultural food stuffs to meet the Chinese market's demand.