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  1. Negotiations

China

China actively seeks bilateral trade and investment deals outside of the World Trade Organisation. The government has put priority on forging agreements with neighbouring countries of Asia, but also many other countries on whom it relies for minerals, energy, food, infrastructure or geopolitical support.

Beijing has signed bilateral trade agreements with ASEAN (2002), Hong Kong (2002), Macau (2003), Thailand (2003), Niger (2005), Chile (2006), Pakistan (2006), New Zealand (2008), Peru (2008), Singapore (2008), Costa Rica (2010), Taiwan (2010), Switzerland (2013), Iceland (2014), Australia (2015), Korea (2015), Georgia (2017), Maldives (2017) and the Eurasian Economic Union (2018). China is also a party to 127 bilateral investment treaties.

China is currently in bilateral negotiations with the European Union (investment), the Gulf Cooperation Council, Israel, Mauritius, Moldova, New Zealand (to upgrade the current agreement), Norway, Pakistan (upgrade), Singapore (upgrade), the Southern African Customs Union and Sri Lanka, as well as with Japan and Korea for a possible a three-way deal. Further down the horizon, there is talk of eventual negotiations with Canada, Chile (upgrade), Colombia, Fiji, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Palestine, Panama, Peru (upgrade), Switzerland (upgrade) and Uruguay.

Regionally, China has proposed a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, an initiative that would encompass the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations, in direct rivalry with US-led projects like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But that intitiative is currently on hold.

China is currently part of the talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). RCEP is a mega-regional trade agreement proposed by the Association of South East Asian Nations with its FTA partners : China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

If concluded, it would give Chinese corporations market access to India — in goods, services and investment — that it does not have through its own FTAs.

China also sees RCEP as a key element of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an infrastructure project meant to link Asia with Europe, passing through Africa, and with an extension to Latin America.

China is also using the BRI to push more countries to sign free trade agreements to consolidate the trade and investment leverage that the project opens up.

last update: June 2018
photo: Eddie / CC BY-ND 2.0

Ecuador to sign a free trade agreement with China this year
18-Aug-2022 Telesur
Ecuador’s Production, Trade, and Investments Minister Julio Jose Prado announced that the administration of President Guillermo Lasso seeks to achieve a free trade agreement (FTA) with China this year.
China, Nicaragua begin talks for FTA; textile trade may get boost
25-Jul-2022 Fibre2Fashion
China and Nicaragua are moving ahead for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) and have formally established a bilateral intergovernmental economic and trade cooperation mechanism.
China, S Korea made substantial progress for 2nd phase FTA talk: MOFCOM
22-Jul-2022 Global Times
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday that China and South Korea have made substantial progress in second-phase China-South Korea FTA talks.
Sri Lanka, China free trade agreement negotiations at a standstill
20-Jul-2022 The Print
A senior government spokesperson of Sri Lanka said that there has been no positive response from China for the proposed debt restructuring programme despite taking steps to hasten the free trade agreement (FTA).
Nicaragua and China speed up implementation of free trade deal
13-Jul-2022 Tele Sur
This Central American country signed the "Early Harvest Agreement", a trade instrument whose objective is to facilitate the bilateral exchange of agriculture-related goods by establishing preferential tariffs.
China floats BRICS free-trade deal, while Russia’s Vladimir Putin calls for an alternative to US dollar
24-Jun-2022 Yahoo Finance
China has proposed a free-trade bloc among the five BRICS countries in a bid to enhance economic ties within the decade-old grouping, as its geopolitical rivalry heats up with the United States.
China to continue pushing for Pacific Island nations to sign regional trade and security agreement
3-Jun-2022 ABC
China’s government says it remains confident it can strike a sweeping trade and security agreement with 10 Pacific Island states despite being forced to shelve its proposed agreement.
China, Papua New Guinea discuss free-trade deal
3-Jun-2022 France24
China and Papua New Guinea held talks on a free-trade deal, as Beijing’s foreign minister wrapped up a landmark tour of the Pacific Islands with a stop in the resource-rich nation.
China dismisses Swiss reports of stalled free trade talks
2-Jun-2022 Swiss Info
China’s commerce ministry has denied talks with Switzerland to update a free trade agreement between both countries are "frozen".
China offers South Pacific nations security, free trade agreements
31-May-2022 France24
China has put forward plans to dramatically expand security and economic cooperation with South Pacific nations, in what one regional leader called a thinly veiled effort to lock them into "Beijing’s orbit"

    Links

  • Belt and Road Initiative and human rights
    FIDH’s webpage that aims to collect and share information regarding the human rights and environmental impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in recipient countries across Asia.
  • China FTA Network
    Official website on China’s FTAs, maintained by MOFCOM