China, S.Korea pledge to deepen Trade, economic cooperation

DETROIT: Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met here Friday with South Korea’s Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun, with both sides vowing to intensify bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Meeting on the sidelines of the two-day 2023 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, the two ministers exchanged views mainly on maintaining stability of industrial and supply chains and strengthening bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation. Noting that China-South Korea economic and trade relations have been continuously deepening under the strategic guidance of the two countries’ heads of state, Wang said China’s efforts in promoting high-standard opening-up will create new opportunities for countries worldwide including South Korea. China is ready to work with South Korea to deepen bilateral trade and investment cooperation, maintain the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain, and jointly push bilateral, regional and multilateral economic and trade cooperation to a new level, Wang said.
Ahn said that the importance of South Korea-China economic and trade relations has been increasing in recent years, and the close cooperative relationship between the two countries has played an important role in ensuring the stability and unimpeded flow of the global supply chain.
South Korea is willing to further deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation and expand the areas for bilateral cooperation under regional and multilateral frameworks, he said. Both sides agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the field of semiconductor industrial chain and supply chain.
On the other hand, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on the sidelines of the two-day 2023 APEC Ministers responsible for trade meeting in Detroit, The United States.
The two sides had “candid, pragmatic and in-depth” exchanges on the China-U.S. Economic And Trade Relationship, as well as regional and multilateral issues of common concern. The Chinese side raised concerns on key issues such as U.S. policies on economy and trade with China, Taiwan-related issues in the economic and trade sector, the “indo-pacific economic framework” and the section 301 tariffs. –Agencies