Biz leaders urge FTA with China
Yonhap | October 21, 2010
Biz leaders urge FTA with China
Business leaders from Korea and China agreed yesterday to cooperate for an early launch of free trade negotiations between the two countries, the Federation of Korean Industries said yesterday.
A Korean delegation led by Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn met a group of Chinese business leaders in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin.
“They shared the view that economic cooperation between the two countries should be further increased, and agreed to provide full support for a free trade agreement between Seoul and Beijing,” an FKI official said.
In May, the two countries completed a nearly four-year joint feasibility study on a possible bilateral free trade agreement and reached an agreement to exchange their views on sensitive issues that arose.
Last month, trade officials from both countries also held two-day-long preliminary talks on their free trade agreement in Beijing. In Korea, there are growing calls for a free trade agreement with Beijing as a similar trade deal between China and Taiwan has recently taken effect. China is the largest buyer of Korean-made goods, and Korea is China’s No. 3 trading partner after the U.S. and Japan.
