China, Costa Rica Reach
Consensus On Free Trade
Talks
The first round of
negotiations for a free
trade agreement (FTA)
between China and Costa
Rica were held on
January 19-21 in San
José and consensus has
been reached on the
negotiation framework
for the FTA between the
two countries, the
Ministry of Commerce
said.
The first discussions
centred on tariff
concession for the trade
in goods and services.
Opinions were also
exchanged on subjects
such as rules of places
of origin, technical
barriers to trade,
sanitary and
phytosanitary measures,
dispute settlement,
trade remedies,
intellectual property
rights and relevant
cooperation.
In June 2007, China and
Costa Rica officially
established diplomatic
relations.
During Chinese President
Hu Jintao's visit to
Costa Rica in November
2008, President Hu and
his Costa Rican
counterpart Oscar Arias
jointly announced that
China and Costa Rica
would officially
initiate negotiations
for a free trade
agreement.
Costa Rica is the second
largest trading partner
of China in Central
America, while China is
Costa Rica's second
largest trading partner.
According to statistics
from the General
Administration of
Customs of the PRC,
bilateral trade volume
between the two
countries in 2007 was
us$2.87 billion, as much
as 32 times over that in
2001.
China's imports from
Costa Rica in 2007 was
us$2.3 billion, a
year-on-year increase of
32 percent, while
China's export to Costa
Rica was 5us$570
million, a year-on-year
increase of 39 percent. |
