Malaysia eyes more agricultural export to China via e-commerce platform

Speaking at the launching event of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's Juhuasuan platform in Malaysia, the country's Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Salahuddin Ayub said this would benefit Chinese consumers and Malaysian producers.

"Currently cooperation among Alibaba, Juhuasuan and agricultural product-based businesses in Malaysia is ongoing. Through the platform, our local brands and businesses can reach out to more consumers in China," he said.

Salahuddin said the collaboration would not only draw the two countries closer but could help introduce other Malaysian agricultural products into the Chinese market.

After Malaysia's premium Musang King started exporting to China in June, Malaysia is now looking forward to exporting its pineapples and jackfruit in the future, said Salahuddin.

"Along the line also hopefully that our bird nest industry also will grow and all the suppliers in our country will benefit," he said.

Alan Ao, marketing general manager of Juhuasuan, which is Alibaba's leading flash sale platform, said there was a growing demand for Malaysian products in China's second-tier and third-tier cities.

"We are helping Malaysian merchants go a step beyond launching sales campaigns and empowering them with analytics to target the rising demand for their products and manage it more efficiently," he added.

According to the company, Juhuasuan's platform allows companies to design and hold their flash sales using analytics and recommendations powered by the flash sales platform, allowing them to identify the most preferred products types and effective targeting of regional consumer bases.