China Desk
As the Korea-China free trade agreement was initiated late last month, the South Korean government set up a new help center to fully utilize the bilateral FTA.
The so-called China Desk will help local businesses, especially small and medium-sized companies, to fully take advantage of the benefits of the Korea-China FTA, exploring the Chinese market to provide all necessary and available information ranging from China's new import duty rates under the bilateral FTA to the outcome of the latest market research in China.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, it consists of experts from five related agencies, including the Korea International Trade Association, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Korea Intellectual Property Protection Association, AT Center, and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“I believe the Korea-China FTA will be a new stepping stone for the growth of Korean companies. The China Desk will be the first one stop service center to provide all necessary support for the goal," Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick said at a ceremony marking the opening of the help center.
Setting the Seoul center at the Korea International Trade Association, a Korean government representative mentioned four more business help centers in China. They include a Beijing office, which is reportedly slated to open this year.
Expecting beneficial effects from the Chinese online market, the China Desk focuses on supporting Korean online shopping malls to localize their web sites for the Chinese language. On these localized pages, Chinese shoppers will be able to purchase Korean goods through an easy payment system without installing Active X. What’s more, the center will help Korean food manufacturers to sell their products on Chinese shopping malls, promoting Chinese consumers’ direct purchasing of Korean food.
China has already become the world's single largest importer of Korean products. Once implemented, the Korea-China FTA is expected to help greatly boost the country's exports to China. Under the agreement, China has to eliminate its import duties on 71 percent of all the goods shipped from South Korea within 10 years of its implementation. Korea will do the same on 79 percent of goods from China during the cited time. The FTA could go into effect before the end of this year.