The Tánaiste Simon Harris hosted a visit from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this morning in Dublin. The Ministers held discussions covering a range of topics including bilateral relations, EU-China relations, multilateral engagement and regional and international issues.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said: "I was
pleased to welcome Foreign Minister Wang to Dublin, following our respective engagements at the Munich Security Conference. The relationship with China is one that we value. We had detailed and constructive exchanges on a wide range of issues.“Both Ireland, and the EU more broadly, have a comprehensive economic relationship with China. I stressed our interest in maintaining and strengthening that relationship, on the basis of the global multilateral trading system, with transparent, equitable and mutually agreed parameters and a level playing field. I also took the opportunity to raise a number of trade issues of importance to Ireland and requested that the Chinese authorities allow the resumption of access for Irish beef to China. We also discussed issues on higher education links between our two countries.
“This year marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between the European Union and China. The past few years have seen significant EU-China dialogue covering political, economic and technological connections.
"We hope that further progress can be made on issues such as digital, trade, the environment, human rights and other topics, as building blocks towards a substantial EU-China Summit this year.
“Ireland’s engagement with China is embedded in the global multilateral system and this framed our exchange today. In my conversation with the Foreign Minister, I underlined the centrality of the UN Charter - and the institutions and bodies of the UN - to Ireland’s foreign policy. I set out Ireland’s long held concerns around the human rights situation in China, particularly around the National Security Law in Hong Kong, and the treatment of minorities in Xinjiang and elsewhere. I emphasised Ireland’s long held view that all human rights issues of concern should be comprehensively discussed and examined within the UN human rights architecture.
“Our discussions also focused on the situation in Ukraine and in the Middle East. I asked that China use its influence on Russia to end their illegal invasion of Ukraine. Any peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine must be based on the UN Charter and must respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. There can be no discussion about the future of Ukraine, without Ukraine. We also discussed the crisis in Israel and Palestine, including in the context of China’s role as President of the United Nations Security Council this month. We agreed that the ceasefire and hostage release deal must be implemented and that all involved must meet their commitments, including further releases of hostages and ensuring continuing humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“Our meeting today underlined again the essential role and value of diplomacy in discussing both areas of cooperation, and issues on which we disagree.”
China is Ireland’s largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific region, total bilateral trade in 2023 amounted to €36 billion. Trade in goods with China reached almost €9 billion in exports and €10.8 billion in imports in 2023.
Irish goods exports to China have increased by 529% in the decade since 2013.
Exports to China are driven by medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and computer services as well as agri-food and increasingly, financial services.
Travel links to China from Ireland also continue to expand. 2024 saw the relaunch of a year-round direct Dublin-Beijing air route, which operates twice a week. Additionally Irish passport holders can now avail of visa free entry to China for 30 days, following announcement in late 2024.
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