The Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF), the umbrella association for Myanmar’s rice industry, will export 250,000 tonnes of rice to China. A new MOU was signed with the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, The Myanmar Times reported.

The MOU expands on an existing agreement signed in June that calls for an export volume of 100,000 tonnes. However, Myanmar has exported 90,000 tonnes of rice to China already. A Times report pointed out that border trade volume has been down due to renewed fighting near the border and tighter restrictions from China as it tries to clamp down on illegal trade. The MRF signed the new export deal as it searches for new potential trade partners overseas.

During its colonial period, Myanmar was the world’s top rice exporter. However, agricultural exports collapsed in the late 20th century under its disastrous socialist regime. The MRF claims that Myanmar consumes almost all of its rice domestically and exports relatively little. Myanmar still produces some of the highest amounts of rice in the world. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, Myanmar only exported 3.6 million tonnes of rice, according to official data. That is small fraction of China’s rice imports, which can number in the hundreds of millions of tonnes.

Underdeveloped infrastructure and a failure to conform to international market standards has kept exports low for all crops. However, for years the MRF and Myanmar government have been looking for new rice markets. According to a recent industry report by the World Bank: “There are good market prospects to accommodate higher rice exports from Myanmar over the next 10-15 years. China is becoming a large net importer of Myanmar rice. The European Union has opened its markets for duty free imports from Myanmar.”