Chinese President in Brunei: Two-way trade growing as relations deepen

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01:47

With Brunei's oil and gas reserves expected to expire in about 20 years, Brunei is seeking to diversify its economy. That's why it's looking more and more for outside investment, such as what China is providing. And over the past few years, trade between the two sides has also been growing rapidly. CGTN's Rian Maelzer has more now on their partnership.

In the past five years, China's involvement in Brunei has surged, with investments in infrastructure, petrochemicals and logistics among others.

Brunei may be one of the world's richest countries on the earth due to oil and gas, but those hydrocarbon reserves are expected to run out in the next couple of decades.

PROF. JATSWAN S. SIDHU BRUNEI SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA "The Chinese investments are considered of paramount importance to Brunei especially in its way to diversify its economy away from oil and gas. The sultanate would like to maintain very close and cordial relations with Beijing because of the importance of Chinese investments, Chinese technology, Chinese know how."

Two-way trade between the countries also grew by more than a third last year alone and has grown even faster this year.

AIN BANDIAL 'SCOOP' NEWS PORTAL "I think there are a lot of watchers who will be interested to see what China's role will be in Brunei's future economic development. So I think this visit is kind of a symbol of the growing closer in terms of economic ties between Brunei and China."

RIAN MAELZER BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, BRUNEI "With Brunei struggling to attract foreign direct investment, China's eagerness to expand ties and invest is not just welcome. It may be the key to it being able to maintain its prosperity in the decades ahead. Rian Maelzer, CGTN, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei."