China Development Bank (CDB) will set up an office in Jordan in order to benefit from booming trade ties with the Middle Eastern country, Jordan Investment Board CEO Maen Nsour said in Beijing on Friday.

Bilateral trade reached $1 billion last year and is expected to increase further, said Nsour at a press conference one day after Jordanian King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein left China following a state visit.

While the CDB, which provides financial support for infrastructure development in China, is now planning to establish an office in Jordan, the Jordan Investment Board has also set up an office in Beijing, its fourth outside Jordan.

Around 20 Chinese companies, employing around 30,000 staff, are now operating in Jordan. Haier, China's biggest manufacturer of household appliances, has a factory there which supplies the Middle Eastern market.

ZTE, one of China's biggest telecommunications equipment vendors, is also negotiating with Jordanian government agencies to establish a manufacturing plant there to serve the local market, Nsour said.

Jordan mainly exports chemical products, leather and agricultural products to China, and imports chemical products and machinery from the country.

Bilateral trade has developed rapidly since an agreement on trade and investment promotion between the two countries was signed in 2001.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. During the state visit, the leaders of both countries vowed to further boost bilateral trade.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)