Ireland/China trade agreements signed

Business and Leadership
February 20th 2012

The Irish Government last night signed two agreements aimed at improving trade and business links with China.

Both agreements were signed by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, and by China’s International Trade Representative and Vice-Minister of Commerce, Gao Hucheng, at Dublin Castle following the bilateral talks yesterday between the Taoiseach and Vice-President Xi Jinping.

The first agreement will seek to put together a programme of events designed to encourage cooperation between the business sector in both countries. Enterprise Ireland will be the key Irish body responsible for helping develop a new trade relationship with China. The agency already has three offices in China and operates a range of supports to help Irish companies expand into the Chinese market.

According to the Government, the other agreement will result in the establishment of a working group to promote investment between Ireland and China. This will facilitate future investment and help identify any obstacles or administrative hurdles which might impede the growth or promotion of bilateral investment opportunities.

“These agreements provide first of all for a comprehensive engagement between our two Governments to deepen and expand our enterprise links in order to provide substantial growth in the level of services trade,” said Minister Bruton. “This will be of assistance to Irish businesses seeking to break into the Chinese for the first time and expand their activities there.

“Secondly, I see strong potential for increased inward investment as China seeks to deepen its engagement with the EU. Ireland is very well placed to be the target of such investment as the only English-speaking member of the eurozone, and IDA Ireland has already had some success in this area. The signature of this agreement today formalises a mechanism for deeper ongoing engagement between our enterprise support agencies, particularly the IDA and its counterparts in the Chinese administration.

“These agreements are very welcome as we seek to grow our trade and investment links with China and ultimately create jobs.”