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ROK says agrees with China to consider FTA

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-10 17:44

SEOUL: The Republic of Korea (ROK) and China agreed to consider a free trade deal and the two neighbours expect bilateral trade to double by 2013, Seoul's government said on Saturday.

That came as leaders of China, Japan and the ROK met and vowed to work together for closer regional economic integration, aiming eventually for a bloc something like the European Union (EU).

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Chinese trade minister Chen Deming and his ROK counterpart Kim Jong-hoon in Beijing signed a report to show strategies on cooperation in economics and trade between the two countries, Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.

Seoul and Beijing have been studying a free trade agreement (FTA) as China is the ROK's biggest export market.

The two countries expect their trade to double to about $300 billion by 2013, according to the report.

Export-dependent ROK seeks free trade deals with major overseas markets such as the United States to fuel growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

In August, Seoul signed a free trade deal with India, the eighth trade pact after it struck agreements to open up markets with the United States in 2007 and the EU in July, both of which have yet to be implemented.