The participation of phytosanitary authorities is proposed to better understand options so that products that are already considered can enter the Asian giant.
Yesterday, Ecuador and China celebrated the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between both countries with an official event in Quito, which was attended by ministers, assembly members, diplomats and businessmen. This scenario also served to announce an international import fair in China.
This is the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which will be held in Shanghai next November and will allow Ecuador and other countries to show their products in that Asian market. According to Fang Hao, economic and commercial delegate of the Chinese Embassy in Ecuador, this fair has been held for six years in a row with great success, as a sign that China maintains a high level of commercial openness and shares opportunities with the world.
During the event, the Minister of Production, Sonsoles García, detailed the scope of the treaty that allows 60% of Ecuadorian products to enter China without tariffs. Subsequently, and gradually, more than 90% of products would be reached without tariffs. She also announced Ecuador's commitment to participate in this world event in China.
For Felipe Ribadeneira, executive president of Fedexpor, the country's participation is important in order to better understand the market. From now on, they propose that there be delegations from Ecuador and the phytosanitary authorities to better understand the options for the products that are already considered to achieve their entry, since there are still some phytosanitary barriers.
The trade agreement with China shows a two-track trade opening policy. For Ecuador, this is the first treaty signed with an Asian country, while for China this is the fourth it has signed with a country in the region.
Juan Carlos Sánchez, vice minister of Foreign Trade in charge, reported that Ecuador is determined to continue with this type of trade agreements. For this reason, in a few more days progress will be made with the treaty with South Korea, the Arab Emirates, Costa Rica and El Salvador.
The Chinese ambassador to Ecuador, Chen Guoyou, gave warm congratulations and thanked those who supported the commercial relationship between both parties. He described the event as a historical milestone, since it is the fourth country with which it has entered into a free trade agreement, after Chile, Peru and Costa Rica.
He assured that trade exchanges between both countries reached US$ 13,650 million in 2023, a figure that reflected a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. Thus, China has become Ecuador's second trading partner for four consecutive years.
The event was attended by Gabriela Sommerfeld, Chancellor of the Republic; Chen Guoyou, Chinese ambassador to Ecuador; Sonsoles García, Minister of Production; and Franklin Palacios, Minister of Agriculture. Former ministers Daniel Legarda and Julio José Prado were also present. This is an example that in the case of Ecuador, a policy of trade openness that began during the government of Guillermo Lasso has continued.
The ministry has reported that this agreement, the result of technical negotiations, is projected to generate thousands of new jobs and an increase of between US$3,000 and US$4,000 million in Ecuadorian non-oil exports to China, in the coming years. It gives Ecuador access to a market of 1.4 billion consumers with high purchasing power.
In addition, it was ensured that the negotiation protected local production, excluding from the tariff reduction 828 products from China, such as textiles, clothing, school footwear, metalworking, rice, sugar, milk, among others.
