Political Dialogue between Iceland and China

Iceland and China held their Political Dialogue meeting in Beijing on the 21st of December. Mr. Martin Eyjólfsson, Permanent Secretary of State of Iceland met with Mr. Deng Li, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China in Beijing for the talks. 

They discussed the bilateral relations of Iceland and China, including further opportunities for cooperation in areas such as climate mitigation (geothermal energy and CCSU), Arctic research cooperation, tourism and gender equality. They also discussed human rights issues in China and the importance of the UN Human Rights Council and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). They furthermore discussed recent developments in the relations between China and Europe and China and the USA, and global challenges including the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East.

Permanent Secretary of State of Iceland also met with Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Ministry of Commerce of China. This year Iceland and China celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. In the past decade, trade between the two countries has more than doubled and China is the largest export market of Iceland in Asia. They discussed the implementation and the possible update of the Agreement and continued cooperation on geothermal energy and CCSU. They also discussed the upcoming WTO Ministerial Meeting and continued good cooperation to solve outstanding disciplines on fisheries subsidies at the WTO.

Finally, Mr. Eyjólfsson met with representatives of Icelandic companies in China and of international organizations.