On the 4th, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held a collective meeting with representatives from five Pacific Island countries. Afterwards, separate signings took place with each country’s representatives for the "Framework Agreement on Enhancing Economic Partnership." China and the relevant Pacific Island countries agreed to carry out flexible and practical negotiations on specific topics such as trade in goods, trade in services, investment, regulations, and pragmatic cooperation. By establishing institutional arrangements, they aim to expand bilateral trade.
Wang Wentao met with Micronesia’s Minister of Resources and Development, Chiyoung; Kiribati’s Minister of Tourism, Commerce, Industry, and Cooperatives, Ritte; Nauru’s Minister of Phosphate Mines, Toma; Vanuatu’s Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade Minister, Ati; and Fiji’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Cooperatives, SMEs, and Communications, Ali. The framework agreements signed by each party include content such as the preamble and objectives, principles, negotiation scope, liaisons, institutional arrangements, future development, entry into force, modification, and termination. Among them, the agreements support Pacific Island countries in attracting investment, accelerating industrialization and agricultural modernization, participating deeply in global industrial and supply chain cooperation, achieving common development between China and the Pacific Island countries, and jointly building a closer China-Pacific Island Countries community with a shared future.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce pointed out that negotiating this framework agreement is an important move to expand opening-up and represents the latest progress in expanding a globally oriented high-standard free trade zone network. China will, in accordance with the framework agreement, actively promote negotiations on specific topics with the aforementioned countries on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win results, further expand high-level opening up, and share China's ultra-large market and vast development opportunities, so that the achievements of the agreement can benefit enterprises and people on both sides as soon as possible.