South Korea and China agreed to consider a free trade deal and the two neighbours expect bilateral trade to double by 2013, Seoul's government said on Saturday. That came as leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met and vowed to work together for closer regional economic integration, aiming eventually for a bloc something like the European Union (EU).
Chinese trade minister Chen Deming and South Korean counterpart Kim Jong-hoon in Beijing signed a report to show strategies on co-operation in economics and trade between the two countries, Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement. Seoul and Beijing have been studying a free trade agreement (FTA) as China is South Korea's biggest export market.
The two countries expect their trade to double to about $300 billion by 2013, according to the report. Export-dependent South Korea seeks free trade deals with major overseas markets such as the United States to fuel growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy.