PHNOM PENH - Cambodia exported 205,358 tons of milled rice to China during the first 11 months of 2019, up 34 percent over the same period last year, said an official report Sunday.

China is still the top buyer of Cambodian rice during the January-November period this year, said the report of the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export.

Export to China accounted for 40 percent of Cambodia's total rice export, it said.

Song Saran, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, said China is a key market for Cambodian rice and the kingdom is expected to export a total of 250,000 tons to China this year.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation shipped 174,397 tons of rice to the European market during the period, down 26 percent, the report said.

The drop in the export to the European market came after the European Union imposed earlier this year duties on rice importing from Cambodia in a bid to curb a surge in rice imports from the country and to protect European producers.

According to the report, Cambodia exported a total of 514,149 tons of rice to 59 countries and regions during the first 11 months of this year, up 3.4 percent over the same period last year.