BUENOS AIRES: The National Assembly of Ecuador, the country’s unicameral legislature, on Wednesday ratified a free trade agreement with China, reported Sputnik.
“Promoting the expansion and diversification of trade between Ecuador and China, eliminating trade barriers and facilitating the cross-border circulation of goods are the goals of the free trade agreement approved by the National Assembly,“ the legislature said in a statement.
The agreement includes over 800 agreed exemptions to protect Ecuadorian industry. The agreement is expected to create more than 50,000 jobs and cover 71 per cent of the country’s exports to China by small businesses.
Following the approval by the country’s Parliament, the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador said on X, formerly Twitter, that the agreement would allow a 50 per cent increase in banana exports to China in the next five years.
China and Ecuador signed the free trade agreement in May 2023 after more than a year of work on the document.–Bernama-Sputnik
