PHNOM PENH, March 9 – Cambodia’s Agricultural and Rural Development Bank said on Monday it would support efforts to expand rice exports to China after talks in Beijing with China’s state-owned COFCO Grains and the Cambodia Rice Federation.
ARDB said discussions focused on raising the production capacity and quality of Cambodian rice for export and on facilitating cross-border settlement arrangements to support trade flows, according to a report by state news agency AKP.
The meeting was attended by ARDB chief executive Kao Thach and Cambodia Rice Federation President Lay Chhun Hour at COFCO Grains’ headquarters in Beijing, AKP said.
COFCO Grains pledged during the talks to help promote Cambodian rice and continue increasing imports into the Chinese market, AKP reported. No purchase volumes, contract terms or new quota details were disclosed.
The meeting comes as Cambodia’s rice exports have accelerated. The Cambodia Rice Federation said the country exported 247,822 tonnes of milled rice in the first two months of 2026, up 83% from the same period a year earlier, with China remaining the top buyer.
Cambodia Rice Federation President Lay Chhun Hour said separately in January that the country was targeting exports of 1 million metric tonnes of milled rice this year after shipping about 940,000 tonnes in 2025.
Public reporting also shows Cambodia’s National Bank signed an MOU with TenPay Global in November 2025 to improve interoperability between Bakong and Weixin Pay, although available evidence does not establish that the arrangement is already being used for large-scale business-to-business rice trade settlement.
