On October 28, the first meeting of the Joint Committee for China-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement was held via video conference. Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative, and Andrey Slepnev, Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission, co-hosted the meeting.

Both sides commended the bilateral economic and trade progress over the past year since the adoption of the Agreement, and discussed possibilities to deepen dialogue and cooperation in technical regulations, trade remedy, customs, and investment. Both sides agreed on joint efforts to implement the arrangements of the Agreement and foster a more favorable policy environment for regional economic integration.

Wang said that the Agreement was an early harvest project of the important consensus between President Xi Jinping and leaders of EAEU members on creating synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the EAEU, and was the first significant institutional arrangement on the economic and trade front between the two sides. He expressed that since China and EAEU members are important partners to each other, China would enhance cooperation with EAEU members in pandemic response and pursue greater achievements in bilateral economic and trade cooperation. At the meeting, both sides also adopted the Decisions of the Joint Committee on the Procedures of Joint Committee Meetings.

Under the meeting’s framework, Wang attended and spoke at the ministerial main forum of the Virtual Forum for “Synergy Between the BRI and the EAEU”, where he exchanged views with Minister Slepnev and representatives of EAEU members on developments in the global economy, international trade recovery, and China-EAEU economic and trade cooperation.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia. This meeting was the first session of the Joint Committee since the adoption of the Agreement in October 2019.