BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, June 25 (Xinhua) -- A protocol agreement signing ceremony on wild aquatic products exported from Brunei to China was held here on Tuesday.

Zou Zhiwu, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China, said that trade cooperation between the two countries in the field of food and agricultural products is promising.

China welcomes the expansion of exports of Brunei aquatic products to China, and will strengthen follow-up cooperation with the Brunei side after the signing of the protocol, Zou said.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, the main objective of this agreement is to further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in biosecurity inspection, quarantine and veterinary sanitary requirements for wild aquatic products.

"Therefore, the signing of this protocol agreement is a requirement in order to facilitate export of wild aquatic products from Brunei to China," the ministry stated in a press release.

Statistics from the Brunei's Department of Fisheries showed that the aquatic product exports have increased from 1,209 metric tonnes in 2017 to 1,763 metric tonnes in 2018, and 34 percent of the exports were to China.