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The 25th meeting of the South Korea-China joint economic committee takes place in a virtual format on Tuesday, with the Korean delegation convened at the Government Complex Seoul. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

South Korea and China adopted a report Tuesday on a joint plan for economic cooperation that includes an outline for future cooperation between the two countries.

In a press release that day, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said, “The 25th meeting of the Korea-China Joint Economic Committee took place in a virtual format between Seoul and Beijing on November 30, with Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong-moon and Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin leading their respective delegations.”

According to MOFA, the report adopted in the latest meeting was drafted in accordance with an agreement reached at the 23rd joint committee meeting in 2019 and is based on research conducted by research organizations on both sides.

South Korea and China previously adopted a joint plan for economic and trade development for the years 2016 to 2020. The latest joint plan lays out a direction for economic cooperation between the two sides for the years 2021 to 2025.

They also reportedly agreed to work toward cooperating on linking South Korea’s New Southern and New Northern policies with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

MOFA quoted Choi as having particularly emphasized the “need for efforts by China to expand bilateral exchange and cooperation in the area of cultural content, including video games, films, and broadcasting.”

He was also quoted as having “asked for China’s cooperation toward increasing cooperation in areas related to intellectual property rights and resolving issues for South Korean companies.”

Amid still-unresolved hostilities toward South Korea in China in the wake of the 2017 deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system by US Forces Korea, the South Korean government has been raising related issues whenever it has engaged in senior-level discussions with China.

Also discussed at the meeting was the current scarcity of urea water solution owing to developments in China.

MOFA quoted Choi as having “lauded China’s cooperation toward ensuring unhindered imports of urea” and proposing “close ongoing communication to ensure that South Korea-China trade proceeds smoothly even under circumstances of global supply chain instability.”

South Korea was faced with a scarcity of urea water solution after the Chinese government moved on Oct. 15 to mandate pre-export examinations for urea and 29 other items. The two sides subsequently reached an agreement to go ahead with export procedures for 18,700 tons of urea that had already been contracted to arrive in South Korea. A portion of that amount has already arrived in South Korea.

During the meeting, China “suggested that the two sides continue cooperating in the areas of the digital economy and low-carbon economy,” MOFA said.

It also quoted China as having “asked for South Korea’s attention toward increasing local economic cooperation between South Korea and China, including the operation of South Korea-China industrial complexes.”

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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