II. Trade Relations and Economic-Technological cooperation

Since the 1980s, the trade and economic cooperation between China and Iceland has developed to some extent, but the total trade volume was not very big.

According to statistics of Chinese customs, the total volume of trade between the two countries in 2001 was US$52.55 million, an increase of 65.5% compared with 2000. China's export value was US$33.97 million and its import value was US$18.58 million, up by 92.9% and 31.4% year on year respectively. From January to August 2002, the bilateral trade volume was US$22.664 million, growing by 25.5% year on year. The main exports from China to Iceland were coke, garments, textiles, shoes and ships, and the main imports from Iceland were fish products and mechanical and electrical products. In 1994, the Icelandic Geothermal Energy Consulting Company and Tanggu District in Tianjin reached an agreement on exploiting geothermal energy. In January 2000, the two countries signed the agreement on China’s entry into WTO and in November the same year, the Sino-Icelandic Mixed Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation held its third committee sessions in Reykjavik.