South Korea and China are resuming follow-up negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) aimed at further opening their service and investment markets.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the 16th round of Korea-China FTA service and investment negotiations will take place in Beijing from August 31 to September 4. South Korea will be represented by Kwon Hye-jin, head of the ministry's trade negotiations office, while China will be represented by Chen Chao, director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Trade Department.
The two sides will focus on discussing market opening measures in the service, investment, and financial sectors. Key agenda items include the types of services to be opened to the other country, conditions for foreign companies to enter the market, and investor protection standards.
The Korea-China FTA came into effect in 2015, with both countries agreeing to prioritize negotiations in the goods sector while committing to follow-up talks for further liberalization in the service and investment sectors. Follow-up negotiations began in March 2018, and there have been 15 official rounds to date.
The government believes that a successful negotiation will expand the economic relationship between the two countries, which has been focused on trade in goods, to include services and investment. The goal is to clearly outline sector-specific restrictions and equity requirements in the agreement to enhance transparency and predictability for market access.
Earlier this year, during a summit in January, both countries agreed to work towards meaningful progress in the service and investment follow-up negotiations by the end of the year. In March, the trade ministers of both countries met, and in June, the head of South Korea's trade negotiations office and China's chief trade negotiator discussed ways to advance the negotiations.
Currently, the service sector under the Korea-China FTA adopts a positive list approach, which enumerates the sectors to be opened. The follow-up negotiations are expected to shift to a negative list approach, where all sectors will be opened by default, with only those requiring restrictions listed as exceptions.
The negative list approach means that if new services are not included in the reserved categories, they will be considered open. This could impact market accessibility for emerging industries such as digital and professional services.
Kwon Hye-jin stated, "In the face of increasing uncertainty in the global trade environment, the Korea-China FTA service and investment agreement can serve as a foundation for expanding service trade and investment between the two countries. We will strive to achieve stable negotiation outcomes that will provide practical benefits to our companies."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.