China Bilateral Trade Agreements
Further down the pipeline, there are possible agreements with India, South Korea and an agreement between China and Japan and Korea. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is the first free trade agreement for foreign negotiations in China and the largest free trade area. CAFTA has strongly encouraged the long-term stable and rapid development of bilateral trade and economic relations. Negotiations on the free trade agreement began for the first time in September 2004, when trade ministers from both countries met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three economic ministers meeting. The first round of negotiations was launched in May 2012. The two sides signed the free trade agreement in June 2015, after 14 rounds of negotiations. As far as trade in goods is concerned, at least 90% of the goods of both parties will not have gradual access to customs on the markets of the other party. In terms of services, Costa Rica will open an additional 45 sectors to China, including telecommunications, education and tourism, while China will open seven more service sectors in Costa Rica. China also concluded a free trade agreement with New Zealand in 2009, which will be phased in over a 10-year period for its products. The free trade agreement will eliminate all tariffs on Chinese exports to New Zealand by 2016 and eliminate 96% of Tariffs on New Zealand exports to China by 2019. The agreement will also facilitate reciprocal investment and trade in services. The deal has been very beneficial for kiwis like Fonterra. New Zealand`s fishing industry has also benefited.
The Free Trade Agreement between China and Switzerland is the first bilateral free trade agreement signed between China and a country on the European continent and one of the world`s top 20 economies. Note: Any customs union, every common market, any economic union, the Customs and Monetary Union and the Economic and Monetary Union are also a free trade area. Another feature of China`s free trade agreements was their link to bilateral investment agreements (ILOs). There are now nearly 3,000 bits in the form of negotiated bilateral agreements on the settlement of investment disputes, guarantees of repatriation of funds for investors, expropriation limits and other issues. These negotiations are usually either before or follow a complete RTA as a separate RA as a separate negotiation, and it has been remarkable in the case of the Chinese, as this separation was the norm. The first China-Japan-Korea negotiations of the RTA are currently the subject of a tri-initial pre-negotiation on investment. However, the BIT negotiations generally do not focus on rules on investment flows, including MFN, and, given China`s interest in foreign investment, it appears that the extension of the approach is in China`s interest.