1 May 2023 marked the fifth year of diplomatic relations between the Dominican Republic and the People’s Republic of China. The Dominican Republic is China’s first trading partner in the Caribbean. Imports from China are only second to those from the United States.
China sent a new ambassador in time for the milestone event. Ambasador Chen Luning previously was Deputy Director General at the Department for Latin America and Caribbean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.
Diario Libre reports that the two countries have signed more than 20 agreements in construction, economy, trade, agriculture, culture, education and tourism, with an accumulated investment estimated at about US$200 million.
“Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the volume of bilateral trade has increased by 112%, exceeding US$4.8 billion in 2022, and during the first quarter of the current year, the volume of bilateral trade has achieved a strong growth of 39.3% over the same period last year. Dominican products such as cigars, blue amber and rum, etc. have successfully reached the Chinese market and are very much loved by Chinese consumers,” said Ambassador Chen Luning, in the interview with Diario Libre.
Rubén Silié, Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Relations told Diario Libre that at present, the commercial exchange is well over 4.5 billion dollars. He is confident that these figures, following the idea of cooperative development and win-win, will continue to increase and diversify in the years to come.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Embassy of China
DR1 News
3 May 2023