From January 19 to 21, the 1st round of China-Costa Rica FTA talks was held in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. After negotiations, the two sides reached basic consensus on the framework of the FTA talks, tariff reductions for trade in goods and negotiation modes for trade in services, etc. and had an in-depth exchange of views on issues such as rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, health and plant inspection and quarantine, dispute settlement, trade remedy, property rights, cooperation, etc.

In June 2007, China and Costa Rica officially established diplomatic relations. In November 2008, during the visit of President Hu Jintao in Costa Rica, President Hu and Costa Rican President Arias announced together the official launch of China-Costa Rica FTA talks.

Costa Rica is China's second largest trading partner in Central America, while China is Costa Rica's second-largest trading partner. In recent years, Sino-Costa Rican bilateral trade is developing rapidly. According to the statistics of China’s Customs, bilateral trade volume amounted to USD 2.87 billion in 2007, 32 times of which in 2001. In 2007, imports from Costa Rica to China amounted to USD 2.3 billion, up 32% year on year while exports from China to Costa Rica amounted to USD 570 million, up 39% year on year.