- Negotiations
The governments of China, South Korea and Japan are expected to commence negotiations on an eventual trilateral free trade agreement between the three countries during 2012 by first concluding bilateral agreements.
In December 2011, the three countries held a final joint study meeting on the feasibility of an FTA among them.
In January 2012, the South Korean and Chinese presidents announced that they would move towards negotiating a bilateral agreement between the two countries. In March 2012, the three countries concluded an investment agreement among themselves which is viewed as a step towards a more comprehensive FTA. In May 2012, China and Korea held their first round of negotiations towards an FTA in Beijing.
Negotiations on a Japan-Korea bilateral FTA, which stalled in 2004, despite several attempts to revive them, have to contend with unresolved tensions stemming from the Japanese occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century and Japanese resistance to lowering tariffs on agricultural imports. Any eventual FTA between China, South Korea and Japan needs to be seen in the context of ongoing economic and political rivalry between China and the USA, as Washington pursues plans to create a new regional free trade and investment agreement by joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
last update: May 2012
Photo: KOREA.NET - Official page of the Republic of Korea / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
7-Dec-2012
Yonhap
South Korea will prioritize the conclusion of a free trade agreement (FTA) with China over a possible trilateral free trade deal that further encompasses Japan, Seoul’s top envoy to Beijing has said.
26-Nov-2012
Ministers of commerce from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea are meeting in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to initiate talks on a free trade area between the three countries, despite the deadlock in bilateral relations between China and Japan because of Japan’s purchase of China’s Diaoyu Islands.
23-Nov-2012
South Korean firms operating in China have called on Beijing to conclude a free trade deal with South Korea as soon as possible to help create an integrated economy in the region, officials said Friday.
21-Nov-2012
South Korea, China and Japan are set to officially declare the launch of negotiations for a “the three-country free trade agreement” on Nov. 20. Choi Kyung-lim, the chief South Korean negotiator said on Nov. 18, “The final confirmation will be made after tomorrow’s report to the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee of the National Assembly, but our plan for now is to officially declare the launch of negotiations on Nov. 20.”
18-Nov-2012
China, Japan, and South Korea are expected to agree on the launch of three-way free trade talks at a summit in the Cambodian capital this week, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday.
22-Oct-2012
Asahi Shimbun
The friction over the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands, is starting to cast a dark shadow over the direction of the FTA negotiations between Japan, China and South Korea. The Asahi Shimbun asked two experts for their opinions on the matter.
27-Aug-2012
South Korea said resuming negotiations with Japan over a free trade agreement will be difficult given a maritime territorial spat.
27-Aug-2012
South Korea and China have made progress in their free trade talks with both countries agreeing on removing tariffs on products within 10 years after the implementation of their free trade accord, Seoul’s trade ministry said Monday.
19-Aug-2012
Who will catch a cold if China sneezes? As was recently shown, the U.S., European and other major economies are not insulated to a slowdown in the Chinese economy. South Korea is also not an exemption to this phenomenon with its exposure to the world’s factory growing sharply over the past two decades.
13-Aug-2012
Yomiuri Shimbun
Fears have risen over the future of Japan-South Korea economic relations in the wake of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak’s visit Friday to the Takeshima islands.
