China-Ecuador FTA to Take Effect May 1

The free trade agreement between China and Ecuador will enter into force May 1, China's Ministry of Commerce announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said the agreement will cancel tariffs on about 90% of goods, with 60% of them to take effect immediately on the day the agreement takes effect. The two countries will establish closer ties in areas such as "rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical trade barriers, trade remedies, dispute settlement, investment cooperation, e-commerce, competition, economic cooperation and so on."