The signing of a trade agreement between Ecuador and China already has a time and a place. It will take place this Wednesday, May 10 in Quito at 19:30 at the Marriott Hotel. The event will be divided into three moments.

The agenda of the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries states that a protocol meeting will be held from 19:30 to 20:00 at which the virtual signing of the contract will take place.

There is already a date for the signing of a trade agreement between Ecuador and China

After 20:00, there will be a press conference attended by Minister of Production Julio José Prado; Foreign Relations and Human Mobility, Gustavo Manrique and Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Daniel Legarda.

In the meantime, from 8:30 p.m., there will be a Debate on the possibilities and challenges of the trade agreement between Ecuador and China, in which the President of the Republic of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, will also participate.

China is the first destination of Ecuador’s non-oil and non-mining exports. They were sold in all of 2022

4,343 million dollars in products to that destination, was an increase of 15% in volume and 60% in value. This year, trade continues to grow and between January and February, $760 million, mostly shrimp, was shipped. This represents an 11% increase compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor).

The signing of the agreement put an end to a process that lasted ten months and took place in four rounds of negotiations that culminated last January with the successful closing of the technical tables.

From there, the process continued within each country. After signing, the Constitutional Court must review the document and then go to the National Assembly to ratify or reject it.

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Its entry into force depends on the ratification of the agreement in the Assembly. “Now it is up to the other government functions to continue with agility,” Prado said a few days ago.

The agreement excludes about 800 sensitive products to protect the national industry. Of these, there are more than 400 items related to the textile sector that have been preserved so that they are not directly affected by competition with China’s zero tariff. The sectors of metal processing, steel, ceramics and white industry are also protected.