China and Costa Rica concluded their year-long negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Wednesday.

During the sixth and last round talks, the two sides discussed issues ranging from market access and the rule of origin to the intellectual property rights.

Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun said before the three-day negotiations that the two economies are complementary and have great potential for further economic and trade cooperation.

China and Costa Rica began their FTA talks in January 2009 following Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the Central American country in November 2008.

Bilateral trade has been growing fast since the two nations established diplomatic ties in June 2007. According to the Chinese Commerce Ministry, two-way trade reached $2.89 billion and $3.18 billion in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Costa Rica is now one of China's important trading partners in Central America while China is the second largest trading partner of Costa Rica.

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