China and South Korea have published an initial free trade agreement (FTA) in English, expected to be signed mid-2015.
'The two countries' governments have agreed to work for official signing of the Korea-China FTA within the first half of 2015,' the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release. 'The government will do its utmost to have the agreement ratified by the National Assembly without any disruption so that our companies can start benefiting from the Korea-China FTA at an early date.”
The agreement covers trade, investment and e-commerce, with Korea to eliminate tariffs on 92 per cent of imports from China, while China will eliminate 91 per cent of tariffs on imported goods from Korea, within 10 years.
According to the Korea Herald, the FTA will boost bilateral trade 39.5 per cent from US$215.1bn in 2012 to more than US$300bn.
China’s president Xi Jinping and South Korean president Park Guen-hye announced the conclusion of FTA negotiations in Beijing last November, which began in May 2012.
