SEOUL, January 19 (AJP) - South Korea and China will hold a new round of follow-up negotiations on services and investment under their bilateral free trade agreement from Monday through Friday in Beijing, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.
The two governments agreed at a summit between their leaders in Beijing on Jan. 5 to work toward achieving meaningful progress in the negotiations within this year.
The follow-up talks will focus on further market opening and institutional improvements in services and investment, in line with guidelines agreed after the two countries signed their FTA. Formal negotiations began in March 2018, with 12 official rounds held so far, along with multiple intersessional meetings.
This week’s talks will seek to accelerate discussions on both negotiating texts and market access issues across three working groups: services, investment and finance, the ministry said.
About 30 government officials from the two countries are expected to take part. The South Korean delegation will be led by Kwon Hye-jin, director general for trade negotiations, while the Chinese side will be headed by Lin Feng, director general of the Department of International Affairs at China’s Ministry of Commerce.
A ministry official said Seoul and Beijing plan to step up the pace of negotiations by holding regular official rounds, including meetings every other month, with the aim of laying the groundwork for a freer and more open environment for services trade and investment.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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