South Korea and China will hold their first official talks on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Beijing next week, the government said Friday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the meeting scheduled for next Thursday will set guidelines for future negotiations and outline the boundaries of the open trade pact.
In addition, the two sides will exchange trade and tariff rate-related data and discuss other administrative details such as the timetable for future negotiations.
The South Korean delegation comprised of officials from the finance, trade, agriculture and knowledge economy ministries will be led by Deputy Minister for Trade Choi Seok-young, while China will be represented by Assistant Minister of Commerce Yu Jianhua.
The inaugural talks come after the two neighboring countries agreed to start government-to-government level FTA talks on Wednesday, after seven years of preliminary reviews.
China, which has a gross domestic product of $7.3 trillion, is the world's second-largest economy and South Korea's top trading partner. Two-way trade reached $220.6 billion in 2011, far exceeding $100.8 billion for the United States and $103.1 billion for the EU.
Policymakers claim if an FTA with China is reached, it could help the national economy grow by 0.95-1.25 percent five years after it goes into effect, with numbers going up 2.28-3.04 percent in 10 years. (Yonhap)