China-Chile upgraded FTA: No tariffs on Chinese textiles

The ‘Revised China-Chile Free Trade Agreement and Supplementary Agreement on Trade in Services of the Free Trade Agreement’ is China’s second FTA upgrading agreement after the upgraded China-ASEAN FTA. It is also China’s first FTA upgrading agreement with a Latin American country.

“The agreement further explores the potential of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, enhances the level of trade liberalisation and facilitation between the two countries, and enriches the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, which is of great significance for further deepening the economic and trade cooperation between China and Latin America,” Chinese ministry of commerce said on its website.

With the coming into force of the upgraded FTA, 98 per cent of the products under bilateral trade would enjoy zero tariff.

The agreement has also revised and supplemented the chapters including the rules of origin and economic and technical cooperation, and added new rules on topics including e-commerce, competition, environment and trade.

The China-Chile FTA was signed in 2005 and was implemented in 2006. To promote the cooperation in services and investment areas, both sides signed and implemented the supplementary agreements concerning trade in services and investment that were signed in April 2008 and September 2012 respectively. In November 2016, China and Chile launched the FTA upgrading negotiations and signed the same in November 2017.

In 2018, China-Chile bilateral trade stood at $42.8 billion, registering an increase of 24 per cent year-on-year, according to official data of the Chinese government. China now accounts for almost one-third of Chile’s total foreign trade.

While Chile mainly exports mineral and forestry products to China, it mainly imports textiles, light industrial products, electronic and machinery products from China. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India