Photo credit: ICTSI
According to estimates provided by the Chinese Embassy, last year's trade volume between PNG and China totalled US$3.21 billion (about K11 billion).
PNG's exports to China totalled US$2.29 billion (K7.85 billion), while imports from China totalled US$920 million (K3.1 billion), indicating a trade surplus.
In order to boost bilateral commerce, the two nations are also discussing a free trade deal.
Fanhua Zeng, China's ambassador to PNG, had stated that the free trade agreement process should be expedited.
He said that as a result of this, the two nations' commercial relations will improve following the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
China imports a large amount of PNG LNG, believed to be over 300 million tonnes per year, as well as other items including lumber.
“It is important that even in this time, we give some impetuous to our trade relations,” Zeng said.
“For example, we want to have this free trade agreement with PNG so it’s a process we have to negotiate.
“But we want to accelerate this process so that when the pandemic is over, we can have better trade relations.
“PNG is rich in resources like gas, oil, timber and fisheries, and China has a big market.
“So we can cooperate closely. We import a lot of LNG gas from PNG and a lot of timber.”
Reference: The National (16 November 2021). “PNG-China trade volume reached K11billion last year”.
