1985 Trade Agreement: The 43 Products That Linked Abidjan and Beijing

Côte d’Ivoire and China signed a trade agreement on December 12, 1984, which Félix Houphouët-Boigny ratified by decree on September 12, 1985. Based on equality and reciprocal benefits, it provided for the exchange of 21 Chinese products, including rice, agricultural machinery and textiles, for 43 Ivorian products, including cocoa, coffee, fruit and manufactured goods. An annual joint commission was tasked with monitoring implementation and proposing ways to diversify trade; the agreement ran for three years and renewed automatically unless terminated with three months’ notice.