Ecuador y China firmaron acuerdo comercial el 10 de mayo de 2023. China es el primer destino de las exportaciones ecuatorianas no petroleras y no mineras.
President Guillermo Lasso at the signing of the trade agreement with China, on May 10, 2023.
The Minister of Production of Ecuador, Julio José Prado; and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, signed a trade agreement on the night of May 10, 2023.
They did it in a protocol meeting, which was held virtually. The ministers signed simultaneously. Prado did it at an event in Quito.
“It is the most important trade agreement that Ecuador has signed, it will change the way it is produced in the country. We must prepare to send more products to China,” Prado said, after signing the agreement.
After the signing, an event was held at the JW Marriott hotel in Quito, in which the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, was present.
“I must express the enormous joy I feel at having finalized this Free Trade Agreement between Ecuador and the People’s Republic of China. The FTAs translate into well-being for citizens, they are engines of development and more income for thousands of families,” said Lasso.
He added that the two countries win with the agreement.
“The relationship with China has been strengthened in my government, a sign was China’s support to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic ,” Lasso recalled.
“Now, we will be able to match conditions of competition with Latin American countries that already have a bilateral agreement with China”, assured the President.
Also, there was the Chinese ambassador, Chen Guoyou, who said that economic and commercial cooperation has become the driver of bilateral ties between the two countries.
“Today the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries is an important milestone in the development of bilateral relations. Ecuador became the fourth country in Latin America to sign an FTA with China,” added Guoyou.
Gustavo Manrique, Foreign Minister of Ecuador, added that this agreement will open more opportunities for employment and diversification of the Ecuadorian economy.
Agreement Details
99.6% of Ecuador’s exports to China will have access to that market, immediately or gradually.
Prado explained that around 50% of exports will have immediate access, that is, without tariffs. Some products that will have this benefit are tuna, sardines and bananas.
Cocoa and roses will have a tariff reduction in five years. While shrimp and bananas will stop paying tariffs in 10 years.
More than 800 products were excluded from the trade agreement, including ceramics, white goods, footwear, clothing, and synthetic toquilla straw hats.
China is the first destination of non-oil and non-mining Ecuadorian exports . In part, this is explained by the fact that 54% of the value of shrimp shipments comes from China.
Shrimp is Ecuador’s main non-oil export product.
For its entry into force, the agreement must still go through the approvals of the Assembly and the Constitutional Court.
Once it enters into force, Ecuadorian exports to China will benefit from a tariff reduction.
On average, Ecuadorian products pay tariffs of 15% to enter China.
