South Korea was China’s fourth-largest trading partner in 2014 after the U.S., Hong Kong and Japan.
Advertisement
The ratification bill on the China-South Korea free trade accord was passed through the national assembly by a majority of 196 to 33 votes with 36 abstentions, Xinhua reported.
However, a government official said, “A trade profit sharing scheme is unparalleled in any other country in the world and it is technically and juridically impossible to introduce the scheme”.
The deal would open the way for the widening of relations with the countrys’ biggest trading partner. Therefore, a total of 3.08 trillion won (US$2.66 billion) of funds, including 478.3 billion won (US$413.04 million) of the damage compensation measures announced by the government in June, will be used to support agriculture and fishery sector.
Regarding public criticism that the Korean trade surplus resulted from a weak local economy, the ministry still expressed a rosy outlook, saying the vast shrinkage of exports and imports were mainly caused by cheap per-unit prices of manufactured goods.
Beijing will do the same on 71 percent of all products, or 5,846 items, from South Korea over the cited period.
In the same session Monday, the National Assembly also approved bilateral FTAs with New Zealand and Vietnam.
Exports were down 4.7 percent on year to $44.43 billion, beating forecasts for a decline of 9.0 percent after shedding 15.8 percent in the previous month.
Flags of China and South Korea.
The two sides set a goal of eliminating tariffs on 92 percent of all products from China and 91 percent of all products from South Korea in 20 years. Eventually, it will eliminate tariffs on more than 90% of goods. The two countries agreed to exclude sensitive agricultural products, including rice, from their deal.
Advertisement
The countries implemented their bilateral FTA for products in May 2013 after they failed to narrow differences in the service and investment sectors. After the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties reached a tentative agreement on the FTA early on Monday morning – following a marathon session of negotiations that started on November 26 and lasted for four days – the agreement was adopted by general meetings of both parties that morning.
