China signs biggest free trade deal with S Korea

[JSCh]

China signs biggest free trade deal with S Korea
By Zhong Nan (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-06-01 14:48

China and South Korea signed a bilateral free trade agreement on Monday, the largest bilateral FTA deal for China in terms of volume.

Under the agreement, China will abolish tariffs on 91 percent of all South Korean products within 20 years, while South Korea will eliminate tariffs on 92 percent of all goods from China.

The countries began talks in May 2012 covering 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, health care, entertainment, investment and trade rules, as well as e-commerce and government procurement.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul in July 2014, negotiations on the pact made rapid progress. President Xi and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye announced a conclusion of substantive negotiations on the deal in Beijing in November 2014.

The deal, written in English, Chinese and Korean, will be implemented after getting approval from parliaments of both countries.

The FTA, the largest bilateral free trade deal for China in terms of trade volume, covered 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, investment and trade rules as well as e-commerce and government procurement.

During the talks on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Sang-jick shared views that the China-South Korea FTA will expand bilateral trade and investment, and that it will serve as an all- round cooperative platform for the two countries to seek new growth engines.

The two ministers exchanged views about various issues, including a regional economic integration via the trilateral FTA between Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is a multilateral FTA that will include China, South Korea, Japan and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as India, Australia and New Zealand.

Xinhua contributed to the story.

 

[Lux de Veritas]

China signs biggest free trade deal with S Korea
By Zhong Nan (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-06-01 14:48

China and South Korea signed a bilateral free trade agreement on Monday, the largest bilateral FTA deal for China in terms of volume.

Under the agreement, China will abolish tariffs on 91 percent of all South Korean products within 20 years, while South Korea will eliminate tariffs on 92 percent of all goods from China.

The countries began talks in May 2012 covering 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, health care, entertainment, investment and trade rules, as well as e-commerce and government procurement.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul in July 2014, negotiations on the pact made rapid progress. President Xi and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye announced a conclusion of substantive negotiations on the deal in Beijing in November 2014.

The deal, written in English, Chinese and Korean, will be implemented after getting approval from parliaments of both countries.

The FTA, the largest bilateral free trade deal for China in terms of trade volume, covered 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, investment and trade rules as well as e-commerce and government procurement.

During the talks on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Sang-jick shared views that the China-South Korea FTA will expand bilateral trade and investment, and that it will serve as an all- round cooperative platform for the two countries to seek new growth engines.

The two ministers exchanged views about various issues, including a regional economic integration via the trilateral FTA between Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is a multilateral FTA that will include China, South Korea, Japan and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as India, Australia and New Zealand.

Xinhua contributed to the story.

This is the first stop towards in East Asia "EU". I fore see a few EU style of blocs.

1. EU
2. NAFTA
3. USAN (Union of South American Nations)
   
4. GCC
5. Eurasia Union

Meanwhile ASEAN is quite dyfunctional.

 

[Shotgunner51]

China signs biggest free trade deal with S Korea
By Zhong Nan (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-06-01 14:48

China and South Korea signed a bilateral free trade agreement on Monday, the largest bilateral FTA deal for China in terms of volume.

Under the agreement, China will abolish tariffs on 91 percent of all South Korean products within 20 years, while South Korea will eliminate tariffs on 92 percent of all goods from China.

The countries began talks in May 2012 covering 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, health care, entertainment, investment and trade rules, as well as e-commerce and government procurement.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul in July 2014, negotiations on the pact made rapid progress. President Xi and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye announced a conclusion of substantive negotiations on the deal in Beijing in November 2014.

The deal, written in English, Chinese and Korean, will be implemented after getting approval from parliaments of both countries.

The FTA, the largest bilateral free trade deal for China in terms of trade volume, covered 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, investment and trade rules as well as e-commerce and government procurement.

During the talks on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Sang-jick shared views that the China-South Korea FTA will expand bilateral trade and investment, and that it will serve as an all- round cooperative platform for the two countries to seek new growth engines.

The two ministers exchanged views about various issues, including a regional economic integration via the trilateral FTA between Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is a multilateral FTA that will include China, South Korea, Japan and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as India, Australia and New Zealand.

Xinhua contributed to the story.

Good progress!

 

[TaiShang]

Great!

Korea, China sign free trade agreement

Published : 2015-06-01 20:23
Updated : 2015-06-01 20:23

South Korea and China signed a free trade agreement Monday that is expected to become a platform for the two economies seeking new growth engines and to bring the 23-year bilateral cooperation up to a new level.

The gradual removal of tariffs on agricultural, maritime and manufactured products, as well as opening up those industries of the world’s largest market, is expected to give Korea’s gross domestic product a 0.96 percent increase and boost customer welfare by $14.6 billion within 10 years of the FTA effectuation, Seoul officials said.

The FTA will enable a market with a population of 1.4 billion and GDP of $12 trillion. It also makes Korea the only country that has FTAs with the world’s three largest economies ― the U.S., EU and China. Korea now has deals encompassing 52 nations, accounting for 73.45 percent of the global economy.

South Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick (right) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng after signing a bilateral free trade agreement in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)


The signing of the FTA was held between Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick and his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng at the Grand Hyatt Seoul Hotel. The pact now awaits the National Assembly’s ratification and is expected to go into effect six months from the respective governments’ notification of the approval.

The signing was supported by South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

“The free trade agreement with China, our largest trade partner and the world’s fastest-growing market, will bring a breath of fresh air to our economy and the future growth engine. This will also enhance our status as a global investment hub,” Park said at her meeting with her staff on the day.

She also said in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the FTA would become a historic milestone to further deepen strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Xi said in his letter to Park that the FTA will lead to new momentum in ties between the two countries and bring substantial benefits to their citizens.

The Korea-China FTA is regarded as a pivotal pact for both countries.

China is by far the largest country Korea has made such agreements with. Korea is China’s largest importer, taking 9.7 percent of its imported market, followed by Japan with 8.3 percent and the U.S. with 7.8 percent.

For China, this is the largest bilateral deal in terms of trade volume. “This is the most high-level, specific but all-around, and balanced FTA we have had by far,” Chinese deputy trade minister Wang Shou Wen told reporters.

The agreement is expected to provide the modality as well as the driving force for progress toward a South Korea-China-Japan FTA, and a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

The RCEP is a proposed FTA between member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ― Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam ― and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs ― Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Under the Korea-China agreement, Seoul will eliminate tariffs on 92 percent or 11,272 kinds of imported items from China within the next 20 years. China will scrap tariffs on 91 percent or 7,428 kinds of items imported from Korea within the same period.

Korea is likely to benefit in the manufacturing ― mostly in petrochemical, machinery, electronic goods and consumer goods ― as well as service and agricultural industries. A total of 310 items made in the inter-Korean Gaeseong industrial complex will also be included in the tariff reduction or elimination.

China’s opening of the service sector, including legal, entertainment and environmental services, will also enable Korea to thrust into China with better protection in copyrights and intellectual rights.

The Korean government vowed to improve agricultural, maritime and other industries that will be affected by the FTA.

However, the deal has practically left out the automobile sector, which both sides have been reluctant to open and remain insistent on protecting. Since many Korean-brand cars are manufactured in China through joint ventures, the effect of the exclusion will be minimal, Seoul officials said.

The South Korea-China FTA was first suggested in 2004 through joint research by the two parties. Negotiations kicked off in 2012, only to be agreed upon in November 2014 and initialed in February 2015.

However, the deal has met criticism. Rep. Kim Je-nam of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy claimed that China since April has started opening up aggressively to foreign investment and has given tariff reduction to its trade partners already. “There is very little benefit in having this long and hard FTA with China at this point,“ she said.

***

 

[TaiShang]

So, what will Taiwan do? The FTA is over 90% in force.

 

[TaiShang]

Samsung picks style over strategy
Source:Reuters-Global Times Published: 2015-5-22 5:03:01

Heir apparent faces tough challenges

Vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Jay Lee Jae-yong, who is expected to take over Samsung Group Photo: CFP

Samsung Electronics Co's office building in Seoul. Photo: CFP


Samsung's heir apparent Jay Lee Jae-yong faces a delicate balancing act: carefully pacing preparations for change - of style more than strategy - at South Korea's biggest conglomerate, while preserving his ailing father's legacy from more than a quarter of a century in charge.

Samsung Group a sprawling corporation of dozens of affiliates including Samsung Electronics, has not announced any formal succession planning, but last week said Lee, 46, will take over as chairman of two Samsung foundations from patriarch Lee Kun-hee, 73, who remains hospitalized after a heart attack a year ago.

A flurry of non-core asset sales, company listings and organizational moves suggests the younger Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is quietly readying Samsung for his brand of steely pragmatism in contrast to his father's charismatic leadership.

"He doesn't want to be in the limelight just yet, with the chairman still alive. But he's been very clear that he wants to be evaluated through performance and ensure Samsung keeps growing," said a senior Samsung executive, who didn't want to be named.

"That's why he's been focusing on businesses he thinks Samsung can run successfully, and selling assets such as defense and chemicals. It was quite a decisive move."

While the timing of a leadership transfer is not yet set, and will effectively be Lee's decision to make, few expect any major shift in strategy, though his management style may change the way things are done at the group.

"I think vice chairman Lee has it in his mind, but he doesn't want to rush and do something that might undermine his father's achievements or may be seen as disrespectful. He's weighing a right moment," said the executive.

As some investors question Samsung's long-term growth prospects, with smartphone profits and margins tumbling from 2013 highs and new businesses not yet proving to be future growth drivers, Lee is taking a multi-pronged approach to keeping the smartphone business growing.

"With the high-end smartphone market near saturation, the vice chairman's focus is on how to keep making healthy profits and extend its life cycle. He's thinking synergies with the component business and also convergence with wearables, the 'Internet of things' and virtual reality," the Samsung executive said.

He may be portrayed as less authoritative than his father, Samsung's second-generation leader credited with forging Samsung Electronics into a world smartphone, TV and chip leader, but Lee has not shied from laying down the law.

"There's now a group-wide instruction for employees to never answer their phones, and to not even look at them, during client meetings," said a second Samsung individual familiar with the issue. "The person behind that is vice chairman [Lee]... He is emphasizing that the client is more important. That's the kind of thought process he has."

Lee is likely to be a more down-to-earth version of his father, insiders say, and won't demand the kind of attention Lee senior did - such as having a handful of senior executives come to meet him at the airport on his return from overseas trips.

"Vice chairman Lee specifically said such practices should end. He seems to believe they are unnecessary," said the second individual.

The younger Lee has rejected Korean media's portrayal of him as a man of detail, in contrast to his father's more visionary style. "He hates such comparisons. Chairman Lee also paid close attention to detail when he first took charge, and his focus later switched to long-term strategy after he made the changes he wanted to introduce," said the Samsung executive.

One departure from previous practice has seen Lee put more Samsung companies under greater public scrutiny through stock market listings, partly to make the group nimbler, and partly to build up cash for a likely $6 billion inheritance tax bill on Lee senior's assets.

"Vice chairman Lee has a certain stake level he has in mind for when he becomes chairman. It's around 49 percent," said a third person, familiar with Lee's thinking.

"He knows he can't exercise the same level of control as his father or grandfather. But the reason why it's below 50 percent is that he wants to win over other people such as managers, clients and shareholders, rather than doing things his own way."

As Lee waits in the wings, Choi Gee-sung, a lieutenant of Lee senior and one of Samsung's "old guard," is among those minding the store.

"The overall atmosphere [at Samsung] has always been uptight with many executives coming in to work by six in the morning. I don't see that changing any time soon," said the second Samsung insider.

 

[TaiShang]

LOL.

Cabinet urges faster trade talks as China, S. Korea sign FTA
2015/06/01 22:07:11

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) The Cabinet urged the Legislature to speed up its review of a bill on monitoring pacts between Taiwan and China after China and South Korea officially signed a free trade deal on Monday.

The Cabinet hoped Taiwan and China can sign a trade-in-goods agreement as soon as possible to limit the impact of the agreement between Beijing and Seoul, Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun said.

The agreement will remove tariffs on more than 90 percent of goods over two decades and cover 22 areas, including finance and e-commerce, but rice and autos have been left out.

Taiwan's government is concerned that Taiwanese exports to China will be at a disadvantage against Korean competition because of the FTA, which covers services, goods and investment, Sun said.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has estimated that Taiwanese exporters will lose up to US$6 billion to their South Korean rivals 20 years after the FTA takes effect, with LCD displays the worst-hit sector, if Taiwan does not sign deals of its own with China.

Taipei signed a trade-in-services agreement with Beijing in June 2013, but it remains stalled in the country's Legislature because of opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and labor and student activists.

They argued that the deal left Taiwan at a disadvantage in many service sectors and would allow China -- which claims Taiwan as a part of its territory -- to gain a stranglehold over the country's economy.

Taiwan is now negotiating a trade-in-goods pact with Beijing, but progress has been slow.

Hung Chi-chang, a DPP member and a former chairman of the Taiwanese agency in charge of contacts with China, urged his party not to oppose service and merchandise trade deals with China because of the adverse affect the China-South Korea FTA may have on Taiwanese vendors.

The China-South Korea FTA will not deal an immediate blow to Taiwan, but tariffs on Korean exports to China, including petrochemicals and machinery, will eventually fall, putting Taiwanese makers of those products at a disadvantage, Hung said.

The DPP should not oppose the two pacts with China, especially with DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen having promised to maintain the "status quo" as the guiding principle in the DPP's approach to China, said Hung, the former head of the Straits Exchange Foundation.

The status quo should include the status quo in economic and trade relations and cross Taiwan Strait flights, Hung said.

 

[Aepsilons]

Ganbare!

 

[TaiShang]

Xi, Park hail signing of bilateral FTA

China and S. Korea signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) on Monday, slashing tariffs on a range of goods.

Under the deal, South Korea will eliminate tariffs on 92% of all products from China within 20 years, while China will abolish tariffs on 91% of all South Korean goods.

Signing the deal in Seoul, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng noted that the FTA was “a high level, comprehensive and balanced free trade agreement.”

The agreement, which has been three years in the making, covers 17 fields, including trade in goods and services, e-commerce and government procurement, among others.

“It's the largest deal for China in terms of trade volume and it's a deal that covers the widest fields," added Gao.

Talks on the deal began in May 2012. However, they gathered serious momentum after Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul in July 2014.

Xi and his South Korean counterpart 박근혜 Park Geun-Hye finally announced the conclusion of substantive negotiations on the deal in Beijing in November 2014.

Hailing the agreement on Monday, the Chinese leader said that it would “lead to new leaps in bilateral trade and economic ties,” while bringing “tangible benefits to the two peoples.”

Park also congratulated Xi, saying that the agreement had “set up a historic milestone in the deepening of the two countries' strategic cooperative partnership.”

Bilateral trade between the two countries is expected to surpass 300 billion US dollars this year.

China is already South Korea's biggest trading partner, largest export destination and import source along with being its biggest source of foreign investment. South Korea, meanwhile, is China's third-largest trading partner.





South Korea has just taken a front seat ticket in China's most recent development frameworks which include the Belt and Road as well as the AIIB.

Good for our nations.

***.

FTA Good to China and South Korea: Experts
2015-06-02

Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng (L) shakes hands with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Sang-jick after signing the agreement in Seoul, June 1, 2015. China and South Korea on Monday formally signed the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), sharing views that the free trade pact will serve as an all-round cooperative platform for both countries to seek new growth engines. [Photo: Xinhua/Yao Qilin]

Experts say the free trade agreement between China and South Korea will have significant impact on the two countries' economic and trade cooperation. It will also have profound influence across East Asia.


China and South Korea signed the free trade agreement on Monday.

Under the deal, tariffs on over 90 percent of the goods traded between the two countries will be removed in the next two decades.

It covers 17 areas including trade in goods, services and investment. It also covers e-commerce, government procurement and competitive policies.

It is also the first time for China to include finance, telecommunications and e-commerce industries in a free trade deal.

Jin Yisong, President of China Chamber of Commerce in Korea, says the FTA marks a breakthrough in economic and trade cooperation between the two economies.

"Both countries can make their respective advantages complementary to each other. It will have a positive impact in the upgrading of enterprises and optimization of industrial structure in both China and South Korea."

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached 235 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

Once the FTA takes effect, the number is expected to reach to 400 billion U.S. dollars in five years.

Chun Kalim, Professor of Political Economics from Hoseo University, says this agreement has a high-level value for South Korea.

"South Korea values a lot in exploring overseas markets, as it is an export-dominated country. On the one hand, China itself is a huge market; on the other hand, China's "one belt, one road initiative" will provide South Korea a great opportunity to expand its influence to Central Asia and South Asia. "

Beijing has been in discussion with South Korea over forming a broader trade bloc called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

This is a multilateral Free Trade Agreement that links the ten members of ASEAN or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

Professor Chun Kalim believes the FTA agreement between China and South Korea can form a blueprint for these negotiations.

"The signing of this agreement will promote the implementation of a larger free trade agreement among China, South Korea and Japan. At the same time, it'll speed up the process to make the entire East Asian region a free trade zone and influence areas such as ASEAN and South Asia. "

If negotiated successfully, this Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership would create the largest trading bloc in the world.

 

[TaiShang]

Sino-S.Korean Trade Expected to Surge 70% by 2020 after FTA Signed
2015-06-02

Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng (L) and South Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-Jick (R) pose for a photo during a signing ceremony for a bilateral free trade agreement at a hotel in Seoul on June 1, 2015. China and South Korea on June 1, formally signed a free trade agreement (FTA) that would remove most tariffs between Asia's largest and fourth-largest economies, whose trade is already worth more than 200 billion USD. [Photo: CFP]


Consumers in China and South Korea will soon be able to buy most goods made in the other country at cheaper prices.

This after the two sides have struck a long-awaited free trade deal.

Under the deal, tariffs on over 90 percent of the goods traded between the two countries will be removed in the next two decades.

Bilateral trade between the two countries has exceeded 230 billion U.S. dollars as of last year.

Once the FTA takes effect, the number is expected to increase 70% to reach 400 billion U.S. dollars in five years.

And items on a negative list will also be reduced.

The signing of the free trade deal is also expected to affect South Korea's role as an intermediary between China and the US.

For more on this, CRI's Liu Kun earlier spoke with Duk geun Ahn, Professor of International Trade Law and Policy at the Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University.

 

[TaiShang]

China-S.Korea FTA sets positive precedent
Source:Global Times Published: 2015-6-1 23:58:02

China and South Korea on Monday formally signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). The agreement, which is China's largest ever FTA so far, will remove tariffs on more than 90 percent of goods after it comes into force. The FTA is forecast to stimulate economic growth in both countries, raising China's real GDP by 0.3 percentage points and South Korea's GDP by 0.96 percentage points.

The deal is a historic milestone which will have multiple influences on free trade in East Asia. Deemed by many as having an unpromising future, the negotiations on the China-South Korea FTA had lasted for 10 years.

This is not surprising given an ideological division between China and South Korea, the delicate situation on the Korean Peninsula, and Seoul's status as a US ally and its active attitude toward joining the US-led TPP.

South Korea is an important neighbor of China. The China-South Korea FTA displays Beijing's real intent of opening-up to the world.

Japan will feel the pressure from conclusion of an FTA between China and South Korea. In 2014, bilateral trade volume between Beijing and Seoul was $290.5 billion, quickly catching up with China-Japan bilateral trade.

If Japan keeps hesitating, China and South Korea will soon become the trade centers of East Asia and Japan's economic clout in the region will be impaired.

South Korea has skillfully maintained balanced relations with China and the US, keeping the US as an ally and China as its biggest trading partner. Strategic maturity and balance has become South Korea's core competitiveness among new emerging developed countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The China-South Korea FTA reaffirmed that China is the world's largest trading power and trade is the basic element in defining relations between China and the outside world. That China is an aggressive power challenging the world order is a subjective and paranoid geopolitical speculation peddled by a minority of countries out of their own interests.

China and South Korea are not disturbed by those speculations, but rather will go on tapping the potential of bilateral free trade. With the price of South Korean-made electronics, automobile and chemical products dropping in the Chinese market, the competitiveness of Japan and Taiwan-made products will be challenged.

Seoul and Beijing only established diplomatic relations in 1992, the latest among East Asian nations, but bilateral trade has grown to be world-class, sustaining regional peace and prosperity. The experience deserves to be studied by other Asia-Pacific countries.

Disputes in the South and East China Seas have diverted attention and sent misleading signals.

What does China mean to neighboring states and the world? The question can be viewed through a Cold War lens, or provide inspiration for future globalization.

 

[AndrewJin]

So, what will Taiwan do? The FTA is over 90% in force.

Only TVBS has a special programme about it, most channels are into 柱柱姐&吴总统.

 

[TaiShang]

Only TVBS has a special programme about it, most channels are into 柱柱姐&吴总统.

Yes, yesterday evening watched a little bit of a round table discussion on TVBS.

Experts agree Korea took an advantageous position vis a vis Taiwan and Japan. What they are concerned is not only to have to compete Korean products in Chinese market; but also, compete the Chinese tech and machinery that is likely to be upgraded thanks to much closer relations with Korea and start to challenge the Taiwanese and Japanese industries.

Experts are urging the government to pass the services agreement but seem to be not so optimistic about that.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Yes, yesterday evening watched a little bit of a round table discussion.

Experts agree Korea took an advantageous position vis a vis Taiwan and Japan. What they are concerned is not only to have to compete Korean products in Chinese market; but also, compete the Chinese tech and machinery that is likely to be upgraded thanks to much closer relations with Korea and start to challenge the Taiwanese and Japanese industries.

Experts are urging the government to pass the services agreement but seem to be not so optimistic about that.

Hmmmm.. ...interesting, well as i said before, S. Korea doesn't really see China as a threat at all contrary to other East and south East Asian countries like Japan, Vietnam, Philippines and Taiwan . So there is little to no hostility towards any deals with China in any field. Whereas surprisingly, the same can't be said of the way it regards Japan. This is a major issue /problem /headache to not only both countries but also the U. S, since Seoul is the most anti Japanese country in not only Asia but the world (yes even more than China) . So it's indeed a dilemma .

Anyway, S. Korea is bound to be close to China economically anyway, due to their close proximity with each other. So no surprise about this deal. Their trade will only increase more with time.

The surprise though is that at almost 300billion dollars of trade a year, China -s. Korean trade is almost 4times China's trade with India a country of a over a billion two hundred million people with whom it shares a border as well make strange.

 

[TaiShang]