Focus on Antigua Investment Immigration and Antigua's Economic situation: The bilateral trade between China and Antigua and Barbuda began long ago. However, due to the small population and limited market size of Antigua and Barbuda, the complementarity of bilateral commodity trade is relatively low; additionally, the two countries are geographically distant, and although the quantity of imported goods from Antigua and Barbuda is small, the variety is diverse, which to some extent restricts China's exports to Antigua and Barbuda. In recent years, as the number of Chinese stores opened by expatriates in Antigua and Barbuda has continued to increase (there are currently more than 10 Chinese stores in the capital, St. John's), the understanding of Chinese goods among Antiguan and Barbudan merchants has deepened, and China's exports to Antigua and Barbuda have also entered a period of steady growth. According to statistics from Chinese customs, the bilateral trade volume from 2006 to 2010 was $160 million, $390 million, $530 million, $493 million, and $806 million, with the vast majority being Chinese exports. In 2011, China's exports to Antigua and Barbuda amounted to $657 million, a year-on-year decrease of 18.5%, while imports from Antigua and Barbuda were $51,000, a year-on-year decrease of 3.5%. The main categories of goods exported by China to Antigua and Barbuda include ships and refined oil, accounting for 88.4% and 9.7% of total exports to Antigua and Barbuda, respectively; the main goods imported by China from Antigua and Barbuda are waste plastics, accounting for 90.8% of total imports from Antigua and Barbuda.
Investment in Antigua and Barbuda: According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2011, China's non-financial direct investment in Antigua and Barbuda amounted to $1.01 million; by the end of 2011, China's non-financial direct investment in Antigua and Barbuda totaled $4.84 million.
Contracting Labor: According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2011, Chinese enterprises signed 5 new contracting engineering contracts in Antigua and Barbuda, with a total contract value of $46.36 million and a completed turnover of $3.97 million; that year, 27 various labor personnel were dispatched, and by the end of the year, there were 66 labor personnel in Antigua and Barbuda. Newly signed large engineering contracting projects include the construction of the new terminal at Antigua and Barbuda's V.C. Bird International Airport by China Railway Fifth Group Co., Ltd.
Important Cooperation Projects: The Chinese government has successively assisted Antigua and Barbuda with several projects, including: the Creek Bridge project, the multifunctional exhibition center, the Grace Drainage project, the cricket field project, the streetlight project, the Grace Pool maintenance project, the Barbuda community project, agricultural and laboratory technical cooperation, cricket field technical cooperation, the power transmission and transformation system renovation project, the construction of a new 30MW power plant project, and the Antigua International Airport terminal project.