(Yicai Global) Nov. 20 -- Malaysia has exported its first batch of cubilose, an avian salivary secretion used to make edible bird nests, to China after striking a trade deal for the prized culinary commodity in 2016.

The Southeast Asian nation sent 150 kilograms of the un-haired material from Kuala Lumpur to Nanning, Guangxi, yesterday, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the General Manager of China Certification and Inspection Group's Malaysia unit Fu Jun. Previously, Malaysia had only sent haired or ready-to-eat bird nests to China.

Once the cubilose clears Chinese customs, it will undergo processing at the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park before China Certification and Inspection Group verifies the source and labels the goods ready for the local market.

China and Malaysia penned an agreement governing the inspection and quarantine of unprocessed China-bound cubilose in 2016, and in September this year China's General Administration of Customs added a cubilose pre-processing plant to a list of facilities eligible to handle Malaysian imports.

Editor: James Boynton