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 imNumber 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.
Korea has gained a chance
chance to make inroads
