SEOUL, April 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and China reaffirmed their push for the bilateral free trade deal in the fifth round of talks held in China last week, the South Korean trade ministry said Monday.

"Both sides reaffirmed each other's will to push for the free trade agreement (FTA) in the negotiation that was held for the first time since new governments of both nations had been launched, " the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said in a statement.

Seoul and Beijing held the fifth round of talks over the Sino- ROK free trade deal for three days through Sunday in northeast China's city of Harbin. The next meeting planned to be held in South Korea, with no detailed time schedule decided.

The South Korean government delegation exchanged views with their Chinese counterparts over the level of the goods-sector liberalization, while discussing the non-tariff barriers.

The working-level talks were held over the negotiation guideline of the service sector, investment, rules of origins, customs clearance, trade remedy, intellectual property rights, government procurement, technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures.

Meanwhile, experts from both sides held the first meeting on the environmental sector, exchanging opinions over the direction of future negotiation.

April 29, 2013

Source: Xinhua

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