On August 31st, China and Nicaragua officially signed a free trade agreement. This is the 21st free trade agreement signed by China to the outside world, and Nicaragua has become China's 28th free trade partner since then. It is also China's fifth free trade partner in Latin America after Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, and Ecuador.

Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Advisor to the President of Nicaragua on Investment, Trade, and International Cooperation Laureano respectively represented the governments of China and Nicaragua in Beijing and Managua on the same day, signing the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua through video. After the agreement is signed, both parties will fulfill their respective domestic procedures to promote the early entry into force and implementation of the agreement.

The head of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce stated that China and Nepal have strong economic complementarity and huge potential for trade and investment cooperation. The China Nepal Free Trade Agreement is conducive to continuously releasing the dividends of the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Nepal, creating a better business environment for enterprises in both countries, further stimulating the potential of bilateral trade and investment cooperation, promoting the further improvement and upgrading of China Nepal economic and trade cooperation, and continuously enhancing the well-being of the people and enterprises of both countries.

Nicaragua's "19 Digital" information platform reported that Laureano, who represents the Nigerian government in signing an agreement with China, stated that the signing of the Nigerian China Free Trade Agreement is a historic event for Nicaragua, meaning that it will open the door to a huge market and establish extensive connections with Chinese companies and entrepreneurs. Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Nigeria, Akosta, who attended the signing event together, stated that China's rapid economic growth, large population, and vast market make signing a free trade agreement with China highly economically valuable. He stated in June this year that a free trade agreement with China could increase Nigeria's gross domestic product by at least 2 percentage points.

According to information released by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Nepal Free Trade Agreement covers areas such as trade in goods, cross-border service trade and investment, and rules. In terms of tariff reduction in goods trade, the final zero tariff products of both China and Nepal account for over 95% of the total tax items. After the agreement takes effect, tariffs on beef, shrimp, coffee, cocoa, jam, peanuts and other products produced in Nepal will gradually decrease to zero when they enter the Chinese market; At the same time, when most products produced in China, such as automobiles (including new energy vehicles), motorcycles, batteries, photovoltaic modules, clothing, and textiles, enter the Nigerian market, tariffs will gradually be reduced and eliminated.

The Ministry of Commerce stated that the China Nepal Free Trade Agreement has shown many characteristics and highlights, creating multiple "firsts". For example, the two sides have included cooperation in the field of measurement standards in the cooperation clauses of the chapter on technical barriers to trade, which is the first time in the free trade agreement between China and Latin American countries.

Bai Ming, a researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, told Global Times that after the resumption of diplomatic relations in 2021, the two sides cleared the political obstacles and started negotiations on the free trade agreement in July 2022. The negotiations were completed within one year, and then the agreement was signed, forming a positive interaction between economic and trade relations and diplomatic relations. This will greatly promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment between the two countries, further unleashing the vast space for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.