China-ROK trade gets a thumbs-up

Li backs alignment of development strategies in talks with Seoul leader

China would like to further align development strategies and begin talks on the second round of the existing free-trade agreement with the Republic of Korea, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday when meeting with ROK President Moon Jae-in.

The agreement, which was initiated in 2012 and took effect in December 2015, covers the largest number of areas - including goods and services - of any of China's foreign trade arrangements.

Li vowed to continue to build the China-ROK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park, which is located in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province. He also called for boosting cooperation in emerging industries such as finance, artificial intelligence and big data, and cultivating an inviting environment for investments from each other's companies.

China is willing to work with the ROK to strengthen mutual trust, properly address sensitive issues and bring bilateral relations back to the right track to safeguard regional peace and stability, the premier said.

Li said friendship and cooperation have been the dominant trend in China-ROK relations. President Xi Jinping reached a large number of consensuses with Moon in talks on Thursday and made plans for the development of bilateral relations, he said.

The premier said both countries have maintained cooperation in diverse fields, including close people-to-people exchanges, to reach win-win outcomes.

Moon said the FTA negotiations should be started as soon as possible with people-to-people exchanges to be strengthened to build a partnership for the next 25 years.