Malaysian exporters should not see China as one country but should instead focus on its provinces, according to Trade Commissioner Shawn Sim.

China, whose economy is eight times bigger than Malaysia, has 23 provinces.

“You can’t treat China as a whole country but rather treat each province as one country.

“For instance, Malaysia’s export to Guandong, China’s manufacturing hub, is more than our export to Thailand,” Sim told Malaysian exhibitors on their arrivals here on Tuesday night.

Speaking to the Malaysian media yesterday, Sim said China’s top five trading provinces with Malaysia are Guandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang.

He said Matrade is currently addressing issues surrounding China’s zero-nitrate ruling on bird’s nests from Malaysia.

The Chinese authority needs to know that the presence of nitrate in bird’s nest is due to a natural phenomenon, he added.

Nearly 80 per cent of the bird’s nests sold in China come from Malaysia.

The official estimate of the bird’s nest market in China is about US$8 million (RM25 million).

However, the market is actually valued at more than US$100 million (RM312 million).–BTimes