Last round of China-Maldives free trade agreement negotiations underway

The last round of negotiations between the governments of China and Maldives began this Wednesday morning at Bandos Maldives.

The negotiations are scheduled to continue this Wednesday and Thursday.

The delegation from Maldivian government participation in the negotiations is headed by Minister of Economic Development of Maldives, Mohamed Saeed.

Government officials from both China and Maldives will be finalizing previously discussed content which will be included in the free trade agreement.

Four previous rounds of negotiation were held during which the governments discussed duty free export of Maldivian fish products to China, import of Chinese seafood products unavailable in Maldives and packaging it and re-exporting it to China.

Duty-free export of Maldivian seafood products was the main point of discussion held during the last round of negotiations back in September, 2016.

Ministry of Economic Development previously announced the free-trade agreement was expected to be signed before end of April.