Kwon Hye-jin, chief trade negotiator at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, poses for a photo with Chen Zhiyang, deputy director general of the Chinese Commerce Ministry's Department of International Affairs, at the 10th round of South Korea-China free trade agreement services and investment follow-up negotiations held at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, on Jan. 26 last year. [Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]
Kwon Hye-jin, chief trade negotiator at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, poses for a photo with Chen Zhiyang, deputy director general of the Chinese Commerce Ministry's Department of International Affairs, at the 10th round of South Korea-China free trade agreement services and investment follow-up negotiations held at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, on Jan. 26 last year. [Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

South Korea and China opened the 16th round of follow-up negotiations under their bilateral free trade agreement in Beijing on Monday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.

The talks are scheduled to run through Friday, with delegations of about 30 officials from each side. Kwon Hye-jin, director general for trade negotiations at the ministry, leads the South Korean delegation, while Chen Chao, director general of the Chinese Commerce Ministry's Department of International Affairs, heads the Chinese side.

The two countries agreed when their FTA took effect in 2015 to pursue follow-up negotiations on services and investment to raise the level of liberalization, and have held 15 rounds of formal talks since March 2018.

"Amid continued uncertainty in the domestic and international trade environment, a conclusion to the South Korea-China FTA services and investment follow-up negotiations would expand bilateral services trade and investment," Kwon said. "We will do our utmost to reach a stable negotiating outcome that provides practical benefits for our companies."


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