1. The “22nd Republic of Korea-People's Republic of China meeting for a comprehensive review of economic cooperation” took place at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on September 5 to accelerate efforts to get economic cooperation between the two countries back on track in all areas, and to discuss major economic issues.

o The ROK delegation to the meeting was led by Director-General for Bilateral Economic Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Kim Hee-sang, and composed of officials from relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The Chinese delegation was led by Peng Gang, Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

2. The “ROK-China meeting for a comprehensive review of economic cooperation” is a director-general-level consultative forum that has taken place since 1993 to conduct a comprehensive review of economic cooperation between the two countries in each area, and to seek new cooperation projects. The 22nd meeting, which came three years after the last meeting in 2015, served as an opportunity to continue efforts to put ROK-China economic cooperation back on track, following the vice ministerial-level joint economic committee meeting between the two countries* in April this year.

* The 22nd ROK-China joint economic committee meeting was held in Beijing on April 20, 2018, with Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, and China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Yan leading their respective delegations.

※ The 21st ROK-China meeting for a comprehensive review of economic cooperation took place in Beijing on May 20, 2015.

3. In the 22nd meeting, the ROK and China assessed the progress in implementing measures to follow up on the agreements reached at the ROK-China summit in December 2017, and the ROK-China joint economic committee meeting in April, 2018. The two sides also discussed ways to link the ROK’s New Northern and Southern Policies, and China’s One Belt, One Road initiative; to resolve difficulties facing the companies of the two sides; and to increase people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

o The two sides agreed to hold a joint consultation between the public and private sectors of the two countries within the year to develop cooperation projects between the ROK’s New Northern and Southern Policies, and China’s One Belt, One Road initiative. They also agreed to continue to work to strengthen cooperation regarding their companies’ joint entry into third countries.

o The two sides agreed to explore ways to promote environmental cooperation in a wider range of areas, making best use of the ROK-China environmental cooperation center which opened in Beijing on June 25. Furthermore, they agreed to step up cooperation between the provincial governments of the two countries by facilitating the ROK-China industrial cooperation complex, established under the ROK-China FTA.

4. The ROK side asked for China’s interest and cooperation regarding key issues of interest to the ROK, including the construction of Lotte World in Shenyang; the issue of China not providing subsidies for vehicles equipped with the ROK’s electric car batteries; ways to increase cultural and contents exchanges; and completely lifting restrictions on group tours to the ROK. The ROK side also stressed the need to improve China’s system for the employment of foreigners in order to resolve difficulties faced by Korean students studying and seeking jobs in China.

5. China expressed strong concern over the rising protectionism across the world, and the ROK side emphasized the need for each country to make efforts to safeguard the free trade system based on WTO rules. The ROK side also asked the Chinese side to work to resolve difficulties facing Korean companies in China as part of efforts to implement the “policy to expand openness,” which the Chinese side publicly announced.

* unofficial translation