Xi to start two-day visit to S. Korea

By WU JIAO (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-07-03 08:26

President Xi Jinping kicks off a two-day state visit to South Korea Thursday morning amid intense regional situation.

China-ROK FTA

The negotiation was officially launched in May 2012.

The 11th round of China-ROK FTA negation was held in Meishan of Sichuan Province in May 2014. The two sides talked about trade in goods, trade in service, investment, rule of origin, trade remedy, technical trade barrier, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and intellectual property rights.

Crazy for ROK stars

Asia is increasingly feeling the phenomenon of hallyu, a newly coined term referring to the increase in popularity of South Korean culture that has been flooding other countries since turn of the century.

Chinese influence sweeps ROK

As TV dramas from the Republic of Korea are popular in China, a Chinese wind has also swept the ROK as the country's influence has been growing in recent years.

Xi, who is on his first visit to the neighboring country since taking office,is doing something unusual by visiting only South Korea during the trip as it is rare for China's top leaders to visit a single country in a single trip.

Accompanied by a large business delegation, including several of the country's leading telecom tycoons, the tightly scheduled trip focuses primarily on economic cooperation and strategic communication amid a changing situation in northeast Asia, according to diplomats from both sides.

As many as 12 agreements are to be signed, in areas of economy, trade, finance, the environment and consular affairs, Chinese vice foreign minister Liu Zhenming said this week.

Observers are expecting a breakthrough in the China-ROK FTA talks, which started in May 2012 and will soon enter 12th round in South Korea this month.

A FTA mechanism has been long expected by the two sides, especially as the trilateral China-South Korea-Japan FTA talks has been stalled due to Japan's declining ties with the two neighbors.

China has become the largest trade partner, export destination and import source of South Korea, while South Korea has become the largest import source and one of the most important investors for China 22 years after they established diplomatic relations.

Two-way trade reached $274.2 billion in 2013, a 55-fold increase compared with that at the beginning of their diplomatic ties.

The visit will also see the fifth meeting between Xi and his South Korean President Park Geun-hye since both became the state leaders.

It has been widely believed that regional issues, including the Korean Peninsula and the growing assertive actions taken by Japanese leaders to beef up nationalism, will become key topics between the two leaders.