The sixth round negotiation of China-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was held in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica on February 8.

In the three-day negotiation, interlocutors will conduct discussions in groups and exchange views on such topics as market access, rule of origin, customs procedures and intellectual property in an effort to reach an extensive consensus.

Foreign trade minister of Costa Rica Marco Vinicio Ruiz stated at the opening ceremony that both parties has through the first five-round negotiation arrived at an agreement on 90% of topics, believing that the rest 10% is sure to be settled in this round negotiation through the common efforts.

Chinese vice commerce minister Yi Xiaozhun stressed in the speech that the two countries’ trade structure is featured with complementarity, so it has a vast potential for both parties to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation.

Yi said that bilateral trade is presently growing rapidly. Based on the statistics of China Customs, in 2008, bilateral trade volume stood at USD2.89b, 32 times more than that in 2001. Impacted by the international economic crisis in 2009, but the China-Costa Rica trade remained a momentum of strong growth, with bilateral trade rising to USD3.18b.