Li backs alignment of development strategies in talks with Seoul leader
China would like to further align development strategies and begin talks on the second round of the existing free-trade agreement with the Republic of Korea, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday when meeting with ROK President Moon Jae-in.
The agreement, which was initiated in 2012 and took effect in December 2015, covers the largest number of areas – including goods and services – of any of China’s foreign trade arrangements.
Li vowed to continue to build the China-ROK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park, which is located in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan province. He also called for boosting cooperation in emerging industries such as finance, artificial intelligence and big data, and cultivating an inviting environment for investments from each other’s companies.
China is willing to work with the ROK to strengthen mutual trust, properly address sensitive issues and bring bilateral relations back to the right track to safeguard regional peace and stability, the premier said.
Li said friendship and cooperation have been the dominant trend in China-ROK relations. President Xi Jinping reached a large number of consensuses with Moon in talks on Thursday and made plans for the development of bilateral relations, he said.
The premier said both countries have maintained cooperation in diverse fields, including close people-to-people exchanges, to reach win-win outcomes.
Moon said the FTA negotiations should be started as soon as possible with people-to-people exchanges to be strengthened to build a partnership for the next 25 years.
In the past 25 years, ROK-China relations have undergone fast development and achieved enormous accomplishments, Moon said. The ROK would like to improve and develop those relations and expand pragmatic cooperation with China in areas like innovation, financial investment, agriculture, third-party markets, environmental protection and tourism, he said.
On Friday, after meeting with Li, the ROK president flew to Chongqing. During his stay there, Moon was scheduled to visit a Hyundai plant and the Museum of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which recounts the story of the government in exile during the Japanese occupation.
On Friday, the State Council released a notice approving the establishment of three China-ROK industrial parks, in Yancheng in Jiangsu province, Yantai in Shandong province and Huizhou in Guangdong province.
These three new parks should implement provisions of the China-ROK free-trade agreement and replicate experiences of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to build demonstration zones for strategy alignment and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, the notice said.
China’s top legislator Zhang Dejiang also met with Moon on Friday afternoon, and both sides agreed to boost parliamentary exchanges.
Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, said China-ROK friendly cooperation is in accordance with the interests of two peoples, as well as regional peace and stability.
Zhang reaffirmed China’s position on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the ROK and hoped the ROK will properly deal with the issue.
Zhang called on the legislative bodies of China and the ROK to maintain communication to help enhance understanding and consolidate political trust.
Moon said the ROK values its ties with China and called for more communication between the legislative bodies of the two countries.
Foreign ministry expresses concern about scuffles
China is concerned about scuffles between Republic of Korea journalists and Chinese security guards during a Thursday event, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday.
Two ROK photojournalists were injured while covering an event attended by ROK President Moon Jae-in.
The Beijing office of an ROK chamber of commerce hosted the event, Lu said, and that office invited journalists and hired security guards for the event. “But the incident happened in China, and people were injured. We are certainly very concerned,” he said.
Chinese and ROK authorities exchanged views about the incident, and “we hope relevant parties will find out the truth as soon as possible,” the spokesman said, adding that China will assist the investigation if needed.
Organizers of such events attended by state leaders should set out clear arrangements beforehand, Lu said, suggesting that they “strike a balance” between security and the needs of journalists to get close to their interviewees.
The organizers should make clear in the first place the rights and rules for journalists and the goals and tasks for the security guards, as well as how much freedom those guards have in handling unexpected incidents, Lu said.
The people in both countries who worked on events for Moon’s visit, including media and security, all share the goal of ensuring a successful visit, Lu said, adding that all the events organized for Moon’s visit, including the one on Thursday, have been successful.
More than 2,200 people attended Thursday’s event, and “an overwhelming majority of them behaved strictly according to the rules”, the spokesman said.
