MPs on Tuesday decried the vast trade imbalance between Cyprus and China, with the trade surplus for the East Asian country said to be in the range of €1 billion.

At the House commerce committee, MP Kyriacos Hadjiyianni said trade relations between the two countries are at a very high level and should therefore be “jealously guarded”.

He added: “We can and must work convincingly and doggedly to reduce this [trade] deficit for Cyprus, creating prospects for our economy.”

He suggested further cooperation with China in the areas of education, tourism and services.

“I’m not saying that we should cease, under any circumstances, our trade with China.”

According to the MP, the trade imbalance is huge and needs to be addressed.

Hadjiyianni accused some quarters in Cyprus of “hiding behind” the fact that Cyprus enjoys a slight advantage in terms of the services sector – a few million euro, as he put it. But at the same time, these same people are ignoring the fact that for Cyprus, the overall trade deficit with China stands at approximately €1 billion.

The MP said “an absence of policy” was noted during the discussion in parliament.

“It’s inconceivable that the magnitude of the problem is being addressed by MPs first rather than by the state.”

He accused the government of having “no strategy, no policy”.

Hadjiyianni said MPs would therefore take the initiative and prepare a report which might form the basis for a constructive development of trade cooperation with China.

According to the site Trading Economics, citing data from the United Nations’ Comtrade database, in 2024 Cyprus imported $1.12 billion from China and exported $25.48 million.