On 22 June 1979, China and Ireland signed a Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, and in 1980 the two countries exchanged ambassadors. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bilateral relations between China and Ireland have developed fast. In 2012, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny visited China, and the two countries established a Strategic Partnership of Mutual Benefit.  

In recent years, China and Ireland have maintained high-level exchanges. In 2012, President Xi Jinping (then Vice President) visited Ireland. In 2003 and 2014, Irish Presidents Mary McAleese and Michael Higgins paid state visits to China respectively. In 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang paid a transit visit to Ireland. In 2018, Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Sean Ó Fearghaíl visited China successively. In May 2021, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence Simon Coveney visited China. In November 2023, NPC Vice Chairman Zheng Jianbang visited Ireland, and Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin visited China. In January 2024, Chinese Premier Li Qiang paid an official visit to Ireland. In February 2025, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Ireland.

China-Ireland economic and trade cooperation has grown significantly in recent years. China is Ireland’s fourth-largest global trading partner. Ireland has maintained a trade surplus with China for consecutive years. Bilateral trade volume reached US$22.9 billion in 2021, US$23.8 billion in 2022, and US$21.76 billion in 2023. In 2024, bilateral trade registered at US$23.42 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, with China’s exports to Ireland totaling US$5.26 billion (up 20.1% year-on-year) and imports from Ireland US$18.16 billion (up 4.5% year-on-year).  

The two sides have sound cooperation in culture, education, science and technology. The China-Ireland Joint Commission on Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation convened the latest meeting virtually in October 2022. The Irish government included Mandarin as an selective subject in junior secondary schools starting from 2014, as a foreign language selective subject in senior secondary schools from 2020, and formally integrated it into the Irish Leaving Certificate Examination in 2022.  

China implemented the visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders of Ireland starting from 14 March 2024 (effective till 31 December 2025). By the end of 2024, China and Ireland had eight pairs of sister-city (province) relationships.