China–South Korea Free Trade Agreement

Negotiations on the agreement started in May 2012.[1] By July 2014 there had been 12 rounds of talks.[2]

On November 10, 2014, the Agreement was made official.[3] South Korean president Park Geun-hye stated that her government would make efforts to enter the agreement into force as soon as possible.[4]

On June 1, 2015, China and South Korea signed a free trade agreement, which went into force on December 20, 2015.[5][6]

On August 3, 2020, the third joint committee of the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement was held through video conference. The Chinese delegation composed of the Ministry of Commerce, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the General Administration of Customs, the General Administration of Market Supervision, the Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Weihai City, Shandong Province, etc., and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, A Korean delegation composed of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs attended the meeting.[7]

The China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement covers 17 areas of goods trade, service trade, investment and rules, including e-commerce, competition policy, government procurement, environment and other "21st century economic and trade issues." In terms of tariff concessions, after the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement is reached, after a transition period of up to 20 years, China’s products with zero tariffs will reach 91% of the tax target and 85% of imports, and South Korea’s products with zero tariff will To achieve 92% of the tax objective, 91% of the import value. In addition, a total of 310 items including products produced in North Korea‘s Kaesong Industrial Park have obtained the qualification of Korean origin, and can enjoy tariff preferences immediately after the entry into force of the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

In terms of market opening, China and South Korea will provide reciprocal treatment to each other’s financial companies entering their own capital markets, which means that the relevant approval process will be simplified and the barriers to entry into the financial markets of both sides are expected to be lowered. The agreement also includes that Korean construction companies in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone can contract cooperative projects in Shanghai without being restricted by the proportion of foreign investment (foreign investment accounts for more than 50%). The Chinese side is considering allowing Korean travel agencies to recruit and visit South Korea in China. [8]

In addition, China and South Korea also promised that after the signing of the agreement, they will continue to carry out service trade negotiations in the negative list model, and carry out investment negotiations based on the pre-access national treatment and the negative list model.