Trade pact promises South Korean players unprecedented access to Chinese finance, telecom markets: Premier Li Keqiang
Trade pact will open up some sectors as never before, premier tells business leaders in Seoul
Premier Li Keqiang promised yesterday to allow South Korea more access to China's financial and telecommunications markets than it had given to any of Beijing's existing trade pact partners.
Li made the commitment as he sought to reassure a South Korean business delegation that China would open up more of its economy and advance market reforms. "[China] will launch service trade and investment negotiations with [South Korea] using pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list," he told the business executives.
That means South Korean businesses and investors would be subject to the same market terms and conditions as their Chinese counterparts except for sensitive sectors deemed off limits by the "negative list".
"Especially in certain service industries such as finance and telecommunications, the regulations in [the China-South Korea treaty] will surpass those China has already promised to other countries with which it has free-trade treaties," Li said.
He told the business executives the agreements were expected to create a US$ 1.2 trillion joint low-tariff market for the two countries.
After bilateral talks on Saturday, China and South Korea announced that they would aim to have a free-trade agreement in place by the end of the year.
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