China reinstated free trade negotiations with Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) on Jan 17, according to a joint statement from China's Commerce Ministry and the GCC Secretariat General on Jan 19.

The commodity trade negotiation was said to have concluded by the time of the joint statement, and a new round of negotiation will be held in mid-to-late February.

The two parties pledged to speed up the free trade talks to reach an all-embracing agreement within the year.

Gao Hucheng, Commerce Minister of China, told the press that the six GCC member states represent the largest source of China's oil imports, and China's the eighth biggest trading partner with the GCC states.

The bilateral cooperation between China and the GCC states has tightened in the areas of economy, culture, energy and technology, over the past few years, according to Gao.

Free trade talks between China and GCC were initiated back in 2004 and the two parties reached market access agreements on 97 percent of the products included in the commodity trade talks in 2009. But then the GCC decided to put a halt on all the ongoing free trade talks with 17 countries and regional organizations, including the one with China.

Gao said that the Ministerial Council of GCC decided to resume the free trade talks with China in Dec 2015, and this decision was welcomed by China, which looked to strengthen its strategic partnership with the GCC.

Edited by Owen Fishwick