Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit (Photo: bangkokpost.com)

Jurin was leading a delegation to the 16th China-ASEAN Expo atNanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The agreement wassigned with four major Chinese companies which import both cassava chips andflour to Guangxi, a new market for Thailand's cassava export industry, Jurinsaid.

Normally, Chinaimports about 7 million tonnes of cassava roots worth around 20 billion THB(656 million USD) every year from Thailand. However, last year China importedonly 3 million tonnes from Thailand, he said, adding Thailand is now urgingChina to resume previous importation quotas of 2.6 million tonnes of cassavachips and 80,000 tonnes of cassava flour worth 18 billion THB in total.

Talks were also held regarding the implementation of a previous memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) signed when China agreed to import 2 million tonnes of ricefrom Thailand, he added.

So far China has imported only 700,000 tonnes of rice, which has left 1.3million tonnes yet to be exported to fulfil the agreement.

A follow-up discussionwas also conducted on another Thai-Chinese MoU on China's agreement to import200,000 tonnes of rubber from Thailand, he added. So far, only 16,800 tonnes ofrubber has been exported to China under this agreement. It is not clear whyimport targets have not been met./.VNA