Ammon News - Stakeholders of the Chinese and Jordanian olive oil industry on Thursday expressed strong willingness to boost business cooperation, during a virtual meeting held by the Chinese Embassy in Jordan, according to Xinhua.

During the meeting with the aim of advancing bilateral olive oil trade activities, Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong said that Jordanian-Chinese economic ties have been developing steadily in recent years, highlighting the fruitful results of the bilateral cooperation, Xinhua reported.

China is Jordan's third largest trading partner and the second largest importing nation, with trade between the two countries totaling 4.112 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, marking a record annual growth of 29.17 percent, the ambassador said.

The Chinese diplomat said that olive oil is one of the kingdom's most important agricultural products with a distinguished reputation in global markets, while Chinese customers' demand for high-quality olive oil is increasing recently.

He said that the Chinese market is the most promising market, whose continued opening up would inject a high momentum into the growth of the global economy.

Rong Weidong, vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce, and Animal By-Products expressed the hope to build long-term access between the two countries in the olive oil industry and accelerate relevant trade activities.

Fayyad Zyoud, president of the Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association said that the Jordanian olive sector plays a vital role in kingdom's agriculture as well as in sustainable development and combating poverty.

Jordan yearly produces around 180,000 tonnes of olive fruit, with some 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes allocated for oil production and some 40,000 tonnes for pickling, according to the Jordanian official figures.