Talking about the working plan for this year, Premier Li said the government will speed up implementation of the free trade zone strategy. He highlighted China's trade cooperation with South Korea. After over 3 years of negotiation, the two countries have officially signed their free trade agreement in June last year.
Under the agreement, China will abolish tariffs on 91 percent of all South Korean products within 20 years, while South Korea will cut tariffs on 92 percent of all goods from China. The pact covers 17 sectors, such as goods and services trade, investment and trade rules, as well as government procurement. And it is also aimed to boost bilateral cooperation in new sectors, such as e-commerce, energy conservation and environmental protection.
Chinese Weihai city in eastern Shandong and South Korea's Incheon city have been assigned as the demonstration zones for regional economic cooperation. The deal went into effect at the end of last year.