Ecuador - China Free Trade Agreement

In this negotiation process, 4 rounds and several technical meetings were held during the months of April to December 2022, in a virtual manner. This Trade Agreement, focused on goods, contemplates a total of 17 disciplines, and is considered state-of-the-art, as it contains a chapter on electronic commerce. In fact, Ecuador is the first Latin American country to include such a chapter in a trade agreement with China.

In terms of goods, trade between the two countries reached around US$12 billion in 2022. Exports amounted to US$5,823 million, including products such as shrimp, lead and copper concentrate, other mining products, bananas, balsa, wood and wood products, cocoa, among others. Imports of approximately US$6,353 million were recorded for products such as: metal products, automobiles, cellular telephones, computers, machines and their parts, among others. It should be noted that 77% of imports from China are focused on raw materials, inputs, capital goods and fuels, elements necessary for production.

With the negotiation of the Ecuador-China FTA, there are several benefits for our exports once this agreement enters into force. The first benefit is the real access of our current and potential exportable supply in better conditions to a market of 1.4 billion consumers with high purchasing power.

In fact, with this negotiation, 99.6% of Ecuador's current supply was granted access to China in immediate or less than 10-year tariff reduction baskets. In addition, this agreement allows us to level the playing field with our neighboring countries (Peru, Central America) that already have agreements with the Asian giant, as well as other Asian countries that compete in that market.