Beijing and Seoul wrap up free trade talks to remove tariffs on goods
As Apec nations get down to business, China and South Korea sign deal to slash tariffs, a strategic move by Beijing as it competes with US
China and South Korea signed an outline free-trade agreement that it is hoped will remove tariffs on more than 90 per cent of goods sold between the two countries over the next two decades.
The announcement came after talks between President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Beijing. The two nations started the trade talks in May 2012.
Xi said the establishment of the China-South Korea free trade deal was of "landmark importance and will effectively promote regional integration".
Park also said she would look at South Korea joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, a China-led initiative that is widely seen as Beijing's effort to counter the Washington-backed World Bank and the Japanese-led Asian Development Bank.
The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing said the deal between China and South Korea covered 17 economic areas, including investment and services.
The trade pact is also expected to boost sales of agricultural products from China to South Korea, whose farmers have voiced strong opposition.
China and the US are pushing rival trade initiatives to boost their influence in the region. Beijing is promoting a free trade deal covering 21 members in the Asia-Pacific region, while the US is focusing on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which does not include China. Officials taking part in the Pacific partnership talks yesterday said it was unlikely that a deal would be reached within the year.