KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) has teamed up with China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC) to promote the trade of creative content such as films, documentaries and television shows between Malaysia and China.

At the signing ceremony today, MATRADE chief executive officer Datuk Dzulkifli Mahmud said the partnership is an important step forward for both parties to promote cultural exchange through each other’s media channels.

“With this partnership, Malaysian media can rest assured that they have a partner in China to assist them in areas such as co-production,” Mahmud said.

Backed by the Chinese government, CICC has worked with media organizations such as National Geographic Channel and NBC in the US, France’s Arte TV, and Media Development Authority of Singapore, to produce non-fiction programmes for broadcast around the world.

According to MATRADE, creative content contributed RM9.55 billion, or 6.4% of Malaysia’s total GDP in 2015, and the industry is expected to grow 20% annually, producing more than 10,000 jobs by 2020.

Mahmud told theedgemarkets.com on the sidelines after the signing ceremony that local media organizations such as Media Prima, RTM and Astro are already in “serious discussions” with their Chinese counterparts to produce documentaries and films about Malaysia.

“We will connect them to the Chinese party so that they can do business. There is interest in China, they want to know what Malaysia is all about, our history, our lifestyle,” Mahmud added.

The partnership was a result of talks between Prime Minister Najib Razak and China’s President Xi Jinping when they met in Beijing last November.