Strengthen China-Korea Ties through Exhibitions

In November 2014， the negotiation for China-Korea Free Trade Agreement （FTA） was officially closed. In May 2015， the FTA was signed. As the first FTA in northeast Asia， what will be the significance of the FTA for China and Korea？ How will the two countries enhance cooperation space in the future？

Reporter： Please briefly introduce the situation of ChinaKorea bilateral trade.

Ryu： China and Korea established diplomatic relationship in 1992. Since then， bilateral trade relations has been deepening rapidly. Today， the volume of bilateral trade is 37 times compared to that of the first year. China is now Korea’s biggest trade partner， and Korea China’s third biggest trade partner. In September， Korean President Park Geunhye attended the memorization activities for the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Beijing. Taking advantage of the occasion， President Park Geun-hye had a talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is a further move to promote bilateral relationship.

Currently， the FTA is being under ratification process at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. Hopefully， this process will finish before the end of the year. In 2014， China-Korean trade volume was 290.5 billion USD. It is expected that this number will soon hit 300 billion USD. In the first half of 2015， due to the overall downcast of global trade and other factors， bilateral trade decreased by 4.7%， but it is hoped that the launch of the FTA will boost the number. Once coming into effect， according to the FTA， there will be gradual reduction of goods tariffs in many categories.

Also， this will increase the efficiency of customs clearance， which I think will help increase the interest of Chinese companies for Korean exhibitions， especially in sectors like building materials， consumer goods， clothes， and medical equipment.

Reporter： How is the development of Korean exhibition industry？

Ryu： There is 14 purposely- built exhibition centers in Korea， including COEX Korea Exhibition Center in Seoul， Korea International Exhibition Convention Cente（KINTEX） in Daehwa-dong Ilsanseogu， and BEXCO in Busan. The total exhibition area reaches 275，239 square kilometers. The government has made its efforts to promote the development of the exhibition industry and encourage strong professional exhibition organizers to venture into foreign markets.

In 2014， there were about 570 trade fairs in Korea， attracting participants from all over the world， including leading companies in many sectors. On average， a leading international fair receives about 700 companies and 50，000 visitors. Some of the major international exhibitions in Korea are in the marine industry， electronic industry， and medical equipment industry.

Reporter： How does the embassy here assist Korean companies to enter China market？

Ryu： With the deepening of bilateral trade， more and more Korean companies are interested to seek business opportunities in China market. Working together with Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency （KOTRA）， the Korean Embassy here in Beijing has attended many national forums and exhibitions in China， including China-Northeast Asia Expo， China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Service， CHINAASEAN Exposition， Eurasia Commodity and Trade Expo， China International Fair for Investment and Trade. Korea has also participated in many leading trade fairs in China as the Partner Country.

Reporter： China and Korea share similar development patterns in many trade sectors. How do you view the cooperation routes in the future？

Ryu： In the early phase of economic development， both China and Korea shared the similar development pattern， which was heavily depended on trade. Korea and China have deepened their relationship so far and still have the huge potential to develop the win-win cooperation in the future.

According to my observation， there are some current features of Korean companies seeking opportunities in China. First， instead of seeking investment opportunities by utilizing low wages in the past， they are now interested to share the cake of the huge consumer market in China. Second， they intend to seek partners in China to enter a third market together. Lastly， apart from first tier cities in China， Korean companies now also set their eyes in markets of second tier and even third tier cities.