South Korea and China have agreed to discuss ways to expand service trade based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for strengthening service trade cooperation signed at the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. They also decided to hold a joint committee on the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to seek ways to enhance FTA implementation and continue communication to facilitate the introduction of key supply chain items such as rare earth elements.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Minister Kim Jung-kwan visited Beijing, China, for two days from the 11th to the 12th and held a Korea-China trade ministers’ meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. During this meeting, the two countries discussed economic and trade cooperation measures following the agreements made during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit. They also agreed to continue the comprehensive restoration of bilateral relations formed through the Korea-China summit and to contribute practically to the recovery of the people’s economy through close communication and cooperation between the two ministries.
The two sides agreed to expand Korea-China trade, which has been stagnant since reaching a record high of $310.4 billion in 2022, and to promote mutual investment. They also decided to discuss economic and trade cooperation through frequent ministerial communication using bilateral and multilateral opportunities. Additionally, they agreed to hold a Korea-China FTA joint committee as soon as possible to review FTA implementation and seek ways to enhance it.
The two sides agreed on the need to actively promote local economic revitalization cooperation to respond to the common challenge of local economic stagnation. To this end, South Korea will continue cooperation through exchange channels with Chinese local governments (Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong) and expand cooperation from coastal local governments to central and inland regions. China will send an investment survey team to Saemangeum and work together to establish new local cooperation models.