Substantial progress has been made in the second phase of the China-ROK FTA negotiation
On July 13, the Ministry of Commerce of China and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea held a meeting of chief negotiators of the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation via video.
Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said at a regular press conference held on July 21 that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, the two countries have launched the second phase of negotiations on the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and carried out high-level negotiations in a negative list mode. Horizontal trade in services and investment liberalization consultations. So far, the two sides have held 9 rounds of formal negotiations and achieved substantial progress. Recently, the two countries held a bureau-level meeting and reached a consensus on speeding up the follow-up negotiations. "The Chinese side is willing to work with the South Korean side to maintain the momentum of negotiation, strive to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement at an early date, further enhance the level of openness and cooperation in service trade and investment between the two countries, and promote China-South Korea economic and trade relations to a new level."
"China and South Korea are each other's important trading partners." Shu Jueting said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations 30 years ago, China-South Korea trade has achieved leapfrog development. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume will exceed 360 billion US dollars, which is 72 times that of the year when diplomatic relations were established. The two sides have effectively aligned their development strategies, successfully implemented the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement, steadily promoted cooperation in the joint construction of China-Korea industrial parks, and continued to deepen third-party market cooperation. A deeply integrated, stable and smooth industrial chain supply chain system has been formed. At the beginning of this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, providing a broader space for the two countries to further deepen economic and trade cooperation.
Data show that in the first half of this year, the bilateral trade volume reached 184.25 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%. "In the context of the fragile recovery of the global economy, the rapid growth of trade between China and South Korea fully demonstrates the strong complementarity of the two economies and the resilience and potential of bilateral economic and trade cooperation," said Shu Jueting.