| Brief Introduction of Economic and Trade Ties between China and Jamaica |
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| 2007-08-31 15:13 |
China and Jamaica established diplomatic relations on 21 Nov. 1972. Since then the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has progressed smoothly. Currently the economic and trade agreements between both countries include Trade Agreement signed in 1976, Agreement on Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investment signed in 1994, and Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income signed in 1996.
Bilateral trade
Presently, Jamaica is the biggest trade partner among English speaking Caribbean countries. According to the statistics from China Customs, the bilateral trade volume in 2006 stood at USD538 million, up 65.63% year-on-year. Among them, China import reached USD359 million, up 62.34% and China export reached USD180 million, up 72.6%. The bilateral trade volume during the first half of 2007 amounted to USD131.595 million, down 45.2% compared with the same peeriod of 2006. Among them, China import reached USD29.331m, down 81.4% and China export reached USD102.265 million, up 23.8%. The main commodities exported from China include textile, clothing, foodstuff, chemicals, light industrial products and electromechanical products, and the main imports from Jamaica is alumina.
Economic cooperation for mutual benefit
Chinese enterprises started project engineering and labor service cooperation with Jamaica in 1980s. The statistics of MOFCOM indicated that by the end of June 2007 Chinese enterprises had fulfilled a turnover of USD230 million from project engineering and labor service cooperation. The actual investment from Jamaica to China totaled USD10.85 million and no direct investment from China to Jamaica yet. |
