South Korea, China to hold 15th round of FTA follow-up talks in Beijing this week

South Korea and China will hold the 15th round of follow-up negotiations under their free trade agreement in Beijing from Monday through Friday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.

The delegations will be led by Kwon Hye-jin, director general for trade negotiations at the ministry, on the South Korean side, and Lin Feng, director general of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs at China's Ministry of Commerce, on the Chinese side. About 30 representatives from the two countries will take part.

The negotiating teams aim to reach substantive progress on drafting agreement text and market-opening talks across three areas: services, investment and finance.

The two countries launched follow-up negotiations on services and investment in March 2018, following the FTA's entry into force in 2015, but have failed to narrow their differences despite 14 rounds of formal talks and numerous working-level meetings.

The two countries' leaders agreed in January to work toward meaningful progress in the follow-up negotiations within the year, and the issue was discussed again at a bilateral trade ministers' meeting in March.

The ministry said it also plans to hold a South Korea-China FTA Joint Committee meeting and a trade ministers' bilateral meeting this week to discuss ways to advance the negotiations.

"I hope these follow-up negotiations will lay the groundwork for freer and more open trade in services and a more predictable investment environment," Kwon said. "We will do our utmost to produce negotiating outcomes that help Korean companies enter the Chinese market amid ongoing uncertainty at home and abroad."