The second round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiation between China and Costa Rica was successful held in Shanghai from April 14-17, according to news form the Ministry of Commerce.
Bilateral trade has developed at high speed since the two countries established diplomatic relations less than two years ago.
The two countries conducted in-depth negotiations on the initial offering, with topics involving market access for the trade of products and services of the FTA.
They also exchanged views on topics including rules of origin, customs procedures, technical trade barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, settlement of disputes as well as transparency, trade remedies, intellectual property rights and cooperation.
In June 2007, China and Costa Rica officially established diplomatic relations. In November 2008, during an official visit to Costa Rica, President Hu and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias jointly announced that China and Costa Rica would officially initiate negotiations for a free trade agreement.
According to statistics from China's General Administration of Customs, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached 2.89 billion USD in 2008, over 32 times greater than the figure from 2001. The trade structures of China and Costa Rica strongly complement each other, and there is a relatively large potential for both countries to further intensify cooperation in economics and trade.
Presently, Costa Rica has become China's second largest trading partner in Central America, and China is Costa Rica's second largest trading partner.
Source: People's Daily Online
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