Visitors walk past the Cambodian pavilion during the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Nov 6, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

China and Cambodia have signed a landmark free trade agreement, marking stronger bilateral economic and trade ties between the two countries, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.

As the 18th FTA signed by China with foreign economies, the China-Cambodia FTA is the latest reflection of China' commitment to promoting the construction of an open world economy. It's also a practice under China's new "dual circulation" development pattern, in which domestic and foreign markets complement and reinforce each another, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China have become each other's largest trading partner, with total trade from January to August reaching $416.5 billion, thanks to upgraded free trade area protocol and supply chain cooperation.

The ministry said the FTA marks a new era of the two countries' comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, the joint construction of shared human community and their further cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Setting a new milestone in the development of bilateral economic and trade relations of China and Cambodia, it's believed the FTA will boost their economic and trade relationship, benefiting enterprises and the people of the two countries, it said.