China and Moldova Launch Second Round of FTA Negotiations

On July 24, 2026, the second round of negotiations for the China–Moldova Free Trade Agreement officially commenced in Beijing. Fu Ziying, Vice Minister of Commerce and China’s International Trade Negotiation Representative, met with Dragolin, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization of the Republic of Moldova, and the two sides jointly announced the opening of this round of talks.

The negotiations will last for three days, concluding on July 26. During this period, both parties conducted further substantive consultations on a wide range of issues, including trade in goods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights, competition policy, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, e-commerce, investment, trade remedies, dispute settlement, and legal and institutional provisions, achieving positive progress. Representatives from the State Agency on Intellectual Property of Moldova also participated in this round and held constructive discussions with the Chinese side on the intellectual property chapter.

The China–Moldova FTA negotiations were formally launched on December 28, 2017, when the two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Launching the Negotiations on the China–Moldova Free Trade Agreement in Beijing. The first round of negotiations was held on March 5–6, 2018, in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. The smooth convening of this second round marks that the building of the China–Moldova FTA has entered a substantive stage.

Moldova, as an EU candidate country, enjoys a distinct geographical advantage and has signed free trade agreements with more than 40 countries, making it an efficient gateway for Chinese enterprises to access the European market. In recent years, bilateral trade between China and Moldova has shown a robust growth momentum. In 2025, bilateral trade volume reached US$1.49 billion, an increase of over 19% year-on-year, and China has become Moldova’s second-largest trading partner. The signing of the FTA will further deepen bilateral economic and trade relations, create more favorable conditions for Moldovan products to enter the Chinese market, and attract more Chinese investment to participate in Moldova’s economic development.

It is scheduled that the third round of negotiations will be held in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, in September 2026. At that time, both sides will focus on in-depth discussions on issues such as rules of origin, market access, technical barriers to trade, and trade remedy measures.