On July 7, the first round of negotiations on the China-Honduras Free Trade Agreement was held in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Wang Shouwen, International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, led the Chinese delegation to the meeting. Serato, Minister of Economic Development of Hong Kong, led a delegation from Hong Kong to attend the meeting. The two sides conducted in-depth consultations on the overall goals of the negotiations, work responsibilities and next-step arrangements, and reached broad consensus.
On March 26, 2023, China and Hong Kong established diplomatic relations, and bilateral economic and trade cooperation entered a new stage of development. On June 12, President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting President Fidel Castro in China. The two sides issued a joint statement announcing that they had reached a consensus on negotiating a free trade agreement between the two countries. On July 4th, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Minister of Economic Development Serato of Hong Kong respectively announced the launch of China-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement negotiations on behalf of the two governments.