China, Gulf to accelerate talks on free trade deal
Print Edition
CHINA and the oil-dependent Gulf monarchies said yesterday that they would accelerate talks on a free trade deal which has been under negotiation for more than a decade.
The announcement, in a joint statement, came during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
“China and the Gulf Cooperation Council have decided to accelerate the pace of negotiations, review the progress made and hold the next round of negotiations in the second half of February,” the statement said.
China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng told reporters: “China and the GCC will meet each other halfway and make concerted efforts ... to reach a high-standard FTA by the end of this year.”
China and the GCC announced the start of free trade talks in July 2004. The process was suspended in 2009.
Gao said the two sides had reached an agreement in 2009 on concluding the negotiations on the market access of 97 percent of commodities within the framework of the trade in goods.
Yet due to various reasons, particularly changes in the international market, the GCC had halted all its ongoing FTA talks with 17 countries and regional organizations, Gao said.
Four years ago, the then Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on both sides to “show political will to sign the agreement as soon as possible.”
Yesterday’s joint statement said negotiations resumed on Sunday, and on Tuesday “substantially concluded in principle the negotiations on trade in goods.”
The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Trade between the Gulf and China has been growing. Two-way trade between China and Saudi Arabia alone reached US$69.1 billion in 2014.
Plunging global oil prices are forcing economic reforms in the Gulf economies, as China expands economic and political ties with the Middle East.
During Xi’s talks with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Tuesday, the two leaders welcomed the restart of the talks, saying they were “delighted” to see the progress that had been made.
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