In return, China will remove tariffs on 71 percent of all South Korean products, or 5,846 items.
Gu Xuebin, vice-president of the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the China-South Korea FTA will provide the means and the impetus for progress toward a China-Japan-South Korea FTA and a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
CHINA, S. KOREA FACTBOX:
Number of Chinese tourists to S. Korea surged 41.6 percent year-on-year to reach 6.13 million in 2014, spending a total of 18.6 trillian won ($16.9 billion) with an average of 3.03 million won per person.
Bilateral trade increased 2.8 percent year-on-year to stand at $235.4 billion last year, among which exports to S. Korea were valued at $90.1 billion – up 8.5 percent year-on-year. Top on the exports' list are mechanical and electrical products (43.2%), base metals (16.3%) and chemical products (7.8%).
China has become S. Korea's largest trading partner, largest source of imports and No 1 export market. S. Korea is now China's fourth-largest trading partner after the European Union, the United States and Japan.
After beauty products, most popular S. Korean products in China are smartphones, home appliances, cars and fashion.
