China, GCC countries held second round FTA talks

China, GCC countries held second round FTA talks

The 2nd round of China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) free trade agreement talks was held in Beijing on June 20-21. Delegates from member countries of GCC including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, as well the Chinese delegation from various ministries attended to the talks. The subject of the talks was to outline the application of free trade agreement and rules of origin. The parties also reached an agreement on tariff reduction of goods trade. The bilateral trade between China and GCC countries increased 42% year on year and reached $9.8 billion in the first four months of 2005. China's exports increased 30% to $3.7 billion and imports 50% to $6.2 billion. The first round of the talks was held in Riyadh on April 23-24, 2005.