A Large Number Of Textile Mills In Kampuchea Are Facing A Shutdown. China Urgently Offers Help.

In the face of the sudden outbreak, many countries responded very quickly. Some countries began to evacuate their citizens urgently, and some countries cancelled all flights. But some countries are at a critical juncture, announcing that they do not withdraw and do not prohibit flights to China. These include Kampuchea. In addition to expressing support for China, the Kampuchea leader also visited China and became the first foreign leader to visit China during this period.

Kampuchea's economy is underdeveloped, with GDP per capita of only more than 1500 dollars. The industrial base of the country is very weak. Garment industry is dominant in the industrial economy, and is also the main export industry and economic pillar of the country. Textile exports account for more than 70% of the total export volume. Kampuchea, which is such an important industry, is now facing a situation of shutting down production. The main reason is the interruption of supply of textile materials from China. It is understood that more than 60% of raw materials from Kampuchea garment factories come from China. Due to the impact of the epidemic, many factories in China have postponed the resumption of work time, resulting in many factories in Kampuchea being in urgent need of inventory and production pause.

According to the forecast, due to the shortage of raw materials, the delivery schedule has been affected. At present, more than 7000 people are out of work. If there is no improvement in March, the number of unemployed people will be expanded to 30000. In order to prevent more workers from losing their jobs, the Chinese authorities urgently offered help and expected to supply raw materials to Kampuchea to ensure the normal production of textile factories.

At present, Kampuchea has more than 500 textile factories, employing more than 1 million people, and indirectly engaging in related industries. The number of people in Kampuchea is up to 4 million. This means that one out of every four people in the country is engaged in clothing and textile related industries. Of these more than 500 enterprises, the investment enterprises from mainland China, Hongkong and Taiwan are as high as 70%. Basically, this is a Chinese driven industrial system.

Data show that China's investment in Kampuchea amounted to US $3 billion 600 million in 2018, accounting for 53% of the total foreign investment in Kampuchea, and China is the largest source of foreign investment in Kampuchea. In addition, bilateral trade between China and Cambodia reached US $7 billion 400 million in 2018, of which China exported to Kampuchea about US $6 billion and imports from Kampuchea about US $1 billion 400 million. China is Kampuchea's largest trading partner and source of imports, accounting for about 33% of its total imports. The main material imported from Kampuchea is rice, accounting for 18.5% of the total export volume of rice in Kampuchea.

At present, China's major infrastructure projects in Kampuchea include West Hong Kong Special Zone Industrial Park, Siem Reap airport, Phnom Penh West Port expressway project and so on. It is worth noting that Kampuchea is a country with few borders on investment in China.