On the afternoon of September 16, the Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan and the Minister of Economic Department of Maldives Mohamed Saeed signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Concluding the Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Economic Department of the Republic of Maldives. Led by the MOFCOM and formed by National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and General Administration of Customs, the Chinese delegation and the Maldives discussed the bilateral free trade agreement for two days and concluded negotiations on various topics.

China-Maldives Free Trade Agreement Negotiation was initiated in December 2015 and experienced five rounds of negotiations and one ministerial discussion. According to the agreement, the two countries would reduce the tariffs of over 95% of the goods to zero. They are also committed to opening the service market such as finance, healthcare and tourism and agreed to cooperate practically in key areas.

Next, they will check the legal texts of the agreement and perform domestic procedures to prepare for the official signing.