China’s Muslim-dominated Ningxia autonomous region, which is beefing up its halal products sector, is planning to start air cargo charters to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Dubai next year. The charters will help Muslim-dominated Ningxia autonomous region export agriculture produce from the Chinese north western region, said Chen Zhigang, the director-general of the Ningxia investment promotion bureau.

“The construction of an international cargo logistics centre has just started. The first phase will be completed in the first half of next year. Once ready, we plan to have chartered cargo flights to Dubai, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur for a start,” he said.

Chen said this would help boost trade and the development of the halal industry in Ningxia. Th e region has a population of six million of which more than a third are ethnic Hui Chinese Muslims.

“Apart from meat, we have a wide range of agriculture produce like cereals, oil, vegetables, buckwheat and good quality rice,” he pointed out. Ningxia has 800 halal food producers, excluding small operators, and 100 of them were licensed to export, he said. The annual turnoverof the halal producers is nearly 6 billion yuan (RM2.72 billion).