reply China-Korea economic and trade cooperation has great potential at the "deep" level

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. At a regular briefing held earlier, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shuang Jue-ting said that China is willing to work with the ROK side to take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to implement the important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, implement the Joint Plan on Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the ROK (2021-2025), further deepen trade and investment cooperation, actively expand cooperation in new areas, implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) with high quality, promote the construction of the RCEP mechanism and jointly support trade liberalization and economic globalization for the betterment of the two countries and peoples. RCEP, promote the RCEP mechanism, and jointly support trade liberalization and economic globalization for the better benefit of the two countries and peoples.High level of economic integration between the two countriesIn the northeast corner of Changchun, the China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone, which was established less than two years ago, is already taking shape. According to the plan, the demonstration zone will build a number of specialised industrial parks to strengthen synergistic cooperation between China and Korea in the industrial chain in areas such as new energy vehicles, medicine, food and 5G. For example, in the information technology industry, the demonstration zone intends to strengthen cooperation with Korean enterprises and well-known enterprises at home and abroad to support industrial cooperation in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and industrial internet; in high-end equipment and intelligent manufacturing, it will focus on promoting international cooperation in industrial robotics, intelligent equipment manufacturing, intelligent control systems, new energy vehicles and intelligent network-connected vehicles, energy conservation and environmental protection, and ice and snow equipment.The China-Korea (Changchun) International Cooperation Demonstration Zone is a microcosm of the deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and South Korea.With the joint efforts of both sides, the economic and trade relations between China and South Korea have been developing rapidly, with each other as important economic and trade partners, said Jue Ting Suo. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries has exceeded US$360 billion, and the cumulative two-way investment volume has exceeded US$100 billion. The two sides have effectively dovetailed their development strategies, successfully implemented the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, steadily pushed forward the cooperation in jointly building China-South Korea industrial parks, and continued to deepen cooperation in the third-party market, which has formed a deeply integrated and stable and smooth supply chain system for the industrial chain.It is worth mentioning that since the outbreak of the Newcastle Pneumonia epidemic, China and South Korea have stood by each other and set an example of international cooperation in fighting the epidemic. China and South Korea have taken the lead in opening a "fast track" for the movement of important business and other people. Against the backdrop of the epidemic shaking the stability of global supply chains, the two countries have facilitated the entry and exit of entrepreneurs from both sides, enabling economic cooperation and economic activities to proceed smoothly.RCEP opens up wider spaceThe RCEP came into force earlier this year, providing a wider scope for China and South Korea to further deepen their economic and trade cooperation.Yuan Bo, deputy director of the Institute of Asian Studies at the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with International Business Daily that, in terms of trade in goods, there is already a bilateral FTA between China and South Korea, and the entry into force of RCEP will further enhance the level of trade liberalisation between the two countries, allowing enterprises in both countries to compare and choose the best commodity tax rates for trade, providing new development opportunities for the expansion of trade between the two sides. In addition, China and South Korea have also added new mutual market opening commitments under the RCEP framework, enabling new tariff reductions for relevant commodity exports, which will facilitate the expansion of trade between the two countries. In addition, many of the RCEP trade facilitation rules are also conducive to promoting bilateral trade between China and South Korea, such as the speedy customs clearance of perishable goods, which will make trade in agricultural products between the two countries more convenient.In terms of investment, there is also a lot of room for cooperation between China and South Korea. Currently, Korea is investing more in ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, which has also been a long-standing investment destination for China. With the implementation of RCEP coming into effect, the level of trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation across the region will be further enhanced, making it more convenient for enterprises from both sides to cooperate in ASEAN countries, including the development of third-party cooperation.China and South Korea have close trade and investment ties and deeper cooperation in the industrial supply chain. Yuan Bo said that the introduction of regional cumulative rules of origin has created better conditions for enterprises in both countries to deepen cooperation in the industrial supply chain, such as enterprises cooperating to produce products based on raw materials from both sides and then exporting them to the markets of RCEP member countries, so that they can also enjoy the preferential tax rates of RCEP. Another example is the system of independent declaration of origin, as China and South Korea have close cooperation in the automotive industry, which has strict time requirements for the supply chain, the system of independent declaration of origin can help enterprises save time costs.Yuan Bo also said that China and South Korea have obvious complementarities in the field of services trade such as the digital economy and the development of industries such as green and low-carbon. with the implementation of RCEP coming into force, the parties have further increased market opening in the field of services and investment, while unified rules have also been established in the field of digital economy, which will usher in more development opportunities for China and South Korea to further expand cooperation in emerging areas in the future. "Overall, the entry into force and 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."