MOFCOM and the Cambodia Trade Promotion Department (TPD) signed 34 trade agreements worth $525.9 million on Jan. 8 in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.

China has become the largest trading partner of 16 Asian countries and has strengthened economic and trade integration with neighboring countries, Chinanews.com reported Thursday, citing the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

Data from the MOFCOM shows that trade between China and 25 other Asian countries reached $1.17 trillion in the first 11 months of 2017, making up a third of regional trade. Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Malaysia are among China’s top ten trading partners.

A total of $10.77 billion worth of investment from 25 Asian countries went to China, accounting for 9% of the overall foreign capital inflow, while China invested a similar amount in Asian countries ($10.67 billion). Singapore, South Korea, and Japan invested in China more than other Asian countries.

Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Laos became China’s main overseas engineering contract markets. China signed engineering contracts worth $83.84 billion with Asian countries, and turned over $44.79 billion in 2017.

Neighboring countries remain China’s most direct route to the international business environment, said Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), adding that strengthening economic and trade integration with neighboring countries will be conducive to creating a sound environment for China’s development. Also, neighbors will benefit from the big country’s development.