(Exceptional delay in remittance reduced from 6 months to 2 months and new provisions on transparency,
protection of intellectual property rights, prohibition of performance requirements, and application of
agreement on provincial governments introduced)  

1. The Republic of Korea and China, one of the top destinations for Korean investment, comprehensively
amended the 1992 Korea-China Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement by reaching final
agreement on the amended provisions and initialing onto the amended treaty in Beijing on March 27, 2007. 
The entry into force of the amended agreement is expected to contribute significantly to reinvigorating
investment, promoting investment liberalization, and strengthening investor protection and economic
exchange.   

- Head of the Delegation of the Republic of Korea : Deputy Director-General for International Economic 
Affairs, Mr. Kwon Hae-ryong, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade 

- Head of the Delegation of China: Deputy Director-General for Treaty and Law, Mr. Guo Jing Yi, of the 
Ministry of Commerce 

2. This amendment was the first-time amendment in fifteen years of the original agreement concluded in
1992. Korea and China agreed to amend the original agreement for purposes of developing a more friendly
business environment for investors of both countries, taking into account the new multilateral trading
environment (the launching of the WTO regime, the establishment of various dispute settlement 
mechanisms, new factors liberalizing investment) and the increase in bilateral trade and investment 
between the two countries.   

3. The Korean government’s negotiating efforts produced successful results, such as including the transfer
of technology in the scope of performance requirement prohibition subjects, which is an obligation that has
not been stipulated in any of the investment agreements that China has signed with a total of 119 countries, 
and introducing the application of the investment protection and promotion agreement on provincial 
governments.  Korean companies are investing in many different regions of and under the newly amended 
provisions of the investment protection and promotion agreement the central government of has the 
obligation to take the necessary measures to ensure that provincial governments abide by the amended 
agreement.   

4. Furthermore, by clarifying expropriation rules, including stipulating the terms of indirect expropriation,
reducing the exceptional remittance delay period from six to two months, and reducing the consultation
period before filing a case to an international arbitration mechanism from six to four months in the case of 
an investment dispute, the amended agreement has dramatically increased the protection provided to
Korean investors compared to the original agreement, in terms of definitions, scope of application, and
reduction of exceptional periods. 

5. With this final meeting in Beijing , the two sides amended the bilateral investment protection and 
promotion agreement to include provisions on investment liberalizing factors such as transparency,
intellectual property rights, and prohibition of performance requirements, and to have the agreement’s
provisions apply to provincial governments as well.  The two countries thereby elevated the agreement to an 
advanced level in accordance with the trend of modern investment agreements, which contain strengthened 
investment liberalizing provisions.

                                                       Spokesperson of MOFAT

* unofficial translation