PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's Plantation and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong said on Wednesday that he expects palm oil export to China to further increase this year.

Malaysia's palm oil export to China from January to March increased by 69 percent year-on-year to 2.2 billion ringgit (550 million U.S. dollars), said Mah at a press conference.

Citing the recent tie-up between Felda Global Ventures (FGV), Malaysia's leading global agribusiness and the world's largest crude palm oil producer, and China's Sinograin Oils Corp. as a good achievement, Mah said he expected the momentum to continue.

FGV said earlier that it expects its palm oil export to China to double to 600,000 tons after it sealed a memorandum of understanding with Sinograin to supply and distribute more palm oil products to China.

"We hope China will invest more in Malaysia's palm oil industry, and have joint ventures with Malaysian companies," Mah said, adding he is also confident that Malaysia's total palm oil export this year will hit more than 70 billion ringgit.