On July 26, 2018, during the first meeting of China-Palestine Joint Committee of Economics and Trade, Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming and Palestinian Minister of National Economy Odeh jointly signed the memorandum of understanding in Beijing, announcing that the China-Palestine FTA Joint Feasibility Study was officially completed. Both sides promised to perform domestic procedures and to launch the negotiations as soon as possible.

In recent years, remarkable achievements have been made in the economic and trade cooperation between China and Palestine, and the momentum of bilateral trade growth is obvious. In 2017, the bilateral trade volume between China and Palestine was US$69.28 billion, with an increase of 16.2% year on year. After the leaders of the two countries reached the consensus on promoting the process of bilateral Free Trade Agreement, the China-Palestine FTA Joint Feasibility Study was officially launched. Both sides came to an agreement on various issues including the conclusion of the Joint Feasibility Study after more than half a year’s work. Both sides thought that signing the FTA will promote a closer bilateral economic and trade relationship and benefit the enterprises and people of both countries.