Santo Domingo, DR—For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic (MIREX), its vision of the relationship it seeks with the People’s Republic of China is clear: to commit to strengthening bilateral economic relations and have a positive impact on both societies.
After more than eight years of diplomatic exchanges between these countries, the Dominican Government says it is convinced that achieving greater economic rapprochement with the Asian country will enable it to achieve “shared development.”
This was stated yesterday by Carlos Hernández, the director of International Cooperation at Mirex, while representing the Executive Branch at the “Trade Exhibition of the People’s Republic of China,” an event held in the Dominican capital to connect various businesspeople from these nations.
Hernandez highlighted that the event, in which around 40 Chinese companies from different sectors are participating, is a sign of the strengthening of business alliances established in the Asian country.
“I am certain that the fruits of this important event will give rise to transformative and sustainable projects, capable of generating a positive impact on the well-being of our societies and further consolidating bilateral ties between our nations,” said the member of the diplomatic entity in his speech.
According to figures shared by the Dominican Republic Export and Investment Center (Prodominicana), the entity responsible for promoting national financial development, the Dominican Republic managed to sell US$207.7 million to China during the January-August 2025 period.
“This dynamism reflects not only the competitiveness of the national offer, but also the importance of China as a key trading partner in continuing to promote the necessary trade diversification, as defined in our National Export Promotion Plan 2020-2030,” said the institution’s deputy director, Vladimir Pimentel, who was also present at the event.
Meanwhile, the chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in the country, Zhou Yuqi, assured that she will continue to actively promote cooperation, creating more platforms for “companies from both countries, promoting the expansion of cooperation in breadth and depth, and contributing to the continuous development of bilateral relations, so that both peoples benefit in a tangible way.”
“Our cooperation needs are broad, our advantages are complementary, and the prospects for economic and trade cooperation are very promising,” she said during her presentation.
Contribution of Chinese entrepreneurs in the DR
On the other hand, the Dominican Federation of Merchants expressed its concern last Tuesday about the alleged unfair competition caused by small and medium-sized Chinese companies in the country, which “evade taxes.”
However, Rosa NG, a representative of the Asian nation’s diaspora in the Dominican Republic, dismissed these allegations, claiming that they are entirely false.
“No, no, that’s false, that’s totally false, that’s totally false. They have created a bad image with that issue,” she told reporters from Listín Diario while participating in the business meeting.
NG repeatedly emphasized that most Chinese businesspeople in the local market contribute to the Dominican Government’s tax system. NG did not rule out the possibility that some informal establishments exist. However, he believes that this is not the general situation among sellers.
“(The Federation) has been saying the same thing for a long time. I’m not saying that there might not be one or two, because I don’t want to generalize. But as Dominicans are, as people in many other countries are, it shouldn’t be the case,” he said.
NG understands that the efficient functioning of the Government institutions responsible for tax collection is an obstacle for those who try to evade taxes.
We have a great country where every day the vast majority of Dominicans get up, buckle down, go to work, and move forward. There is, in fact, a political class that bets on the failure of others, and we continue to move from failure to failure, never advancing.
