The Second Round Negotiation of China-Cambodia FTA
(Sources: China FTA Network and Khmer Times)
On April 9, 2020, the second round of negotiations on the China-Cambodia FTA was held via remote video. In this round of negotiations, the two sides reached a broad consensus on the contents of the agreement. The senior official of the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia said the two parties have achieved at least 70% and expected to sign the agreement by the end of the year.
During this meeting, both sides have concluded Chapters of the cooperation on Belt and Road Initiative, investment cooperation, economic and technological cooperation, e-commerce and some legal issues. Important progress has been made in the fields of trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade in services, transparency and relevant laws. The two sides agreed to continue to speed up the negotiations through various means, including video conference, and to take practical actions to jointly promote free trade, stabilize regional economy, safeguard global industrial chain and jointly fight the COVID-19.
The negotiation and signing of the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement is an important measure to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries. It is conducive to deepening the economic and trade ties between the two sides, to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and to promoting the joint construction of the China-Cambodia Community with a shared future.
Secretary of State of the Ministry of Commerce, H.E. Sok Sopheak, said he is looking at June to share the proposal document with the relevant ministries and institutions. If there are no issues, the governments of both countries should be on target to sign the free-trade deal some time later this year.
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