General

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said at a regular press conference held earlier that China is willing to work with South Korea to take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as an opportunity to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and implement the "China-ROK Economic and Trade Cooperation". Joint Cooperation Plan (2021-2025), further deepening trade and investment cooperation, actively expanding cooperation in new fields, implementing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with high quality, promoting the construction of the RCEP mechanism, and jointly supporting trade liberalization and economic globalization , to better benefit the two countries and the two peoples.

The economic integration of the two countries is high

In the northeast corner of Changchun, the China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone, which was established less than two years ago, has begun to take shape. According to the plan, the demonstration zone will build a number of professional industrial parks to strengthen the cooperation between China and South Korea in the industrial chain of new energy vehicles, medicine, food, 5G and other fields. For example, in the information technology industry, the demonstration zone plans to strengthen cooperation with Korean companies and well-known domestic and foreign companies, and support industrial cooperation such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and industrial Internet; in high-end equipment and intelligent manufacturing, it will focus on promoting industrial robots, intelligent International cooperation in equipment manufacturing, intelligent control systems, new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles, energy conservation and environmental protection, and ice and snow equipment.

The China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone is the epitome of the deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and South Korea.

Shu Jueting said that with the joint efforts of both sides, China-South Korea economic and trade relations have developed rapidly and they are each other's important economic and trade partners. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries has exceeded 360 billion US dollars, and the total two-way investment has exceeded 100 billion US dollars. The two sides have effectively aligned their development strategies, successfully implemented the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement, steadily promoted cooperation in the joint construction of China-Korea industrial parks, and continued to deepen third-party market cooperation. A deeply integrated, stable and smooth industrial chain supply chain system has been formed.

It is worth mentioning that since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, China and South Korea have been supporting each other, setting a model for international anti-epidemic cooperation. China and South Korea took the lead in opening a "fast lane" for important business and other personnel exchanges. In the context of the epidemic that has shaken the stability of the global supply chain, the two countries have facilitated entry and exit for entrepreneurs from both sides, so that economic cooperation and economic activities can be carried out smoothly.

RCEP opens up wider space

RCEP came into effect at the beginning of this year, which provides a broader space for China and South Korea to further deepen economic and trade cooperation.

Yuan Bo, deputy director of the Institute of Asian Studies of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with a reporter from International Business Daily that from the perspective of trade in goods, there is a bilateral free trade agreement between China and South Korea, and the implementation of RCEP will further enhance the freedom of trade between the two countries. At the same time, enterprises of the two countries can compare and choose the best commodity tax rate to carry out trade, which provides new development opportunities for expanding bilateral trade. Not only that, China and South Korea have also added mutual market opening commitments under the RCEP framework, enabling the export of related commodities to obtain new tariff reductions and exemptions, which is conducive to the expansion of the scale of trade between the two countries. In addition, many RCEP trade facilitation rules are also conducive to promoting bilateral trade between China and South Korea. For example, the rapid customs clearance of perishable goods will make the trade of agricultural products between the two countries more convenient.

From the perspective of investment, China and South Korea also have a lot of room for cooperation. At present, South Korea invests more in ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, and ASEAN countries are also long-term investment destinations for China. With the implementation of RCEP, the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation in the entire region will be further improved, and it will be more convenient for companies from both sides to cooperate in ASEAN countries, including third-party cooperation.

China and South Korea have close trade and investment exchanges, and also have a deep cooperative relationship in the industrial chain and supply chain. Yuan Bo said that the introduction of the regional cumulative rules of origin has created better conditions for enterprises of the two countries to deepen cooperation in the industrial chain and supply chain. For example, enterprises rely on the raw materials of the two sides to cooperate to produce products and then export them to the markets of RCEP member countries. Preferential tax rate for RCEP. Another example is the self-declaration system of origin. China and South Korea have close cooperation in the auto industry, and the auto industry has strict time requirements on the supply chain. The self-declaration system of origin can help companies save time and cost.

Yuan Bo also said that China and South Korea have obvious complementarities in service trade fields such as the digital economy and green and low-carbon industrial development. With the implementation of RCEP, all parties will further open up the market in the field of services and investment, and at the same time establish unified rules in the field of digital economy. In the future, China and South Korea will further expand cooperation in emerging fields and usher in more development opportunities. "Overall, the implementation of RCEP provides a very good institutional cooperation platform for China and South Korea to further leverage their respective comparative advantages and expand new areas of cooperation."