According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea and China held their first official round of bilateral talks Wednesday on removing non-tariff barriers to trade as both countries continue to struggle with shrinking exports.

The first meeting of the countries' Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee was held in Beijing, marking the first ever meeting of 14 trade-related committees created under the South Korea-China free trade agreement that went into effect late last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"At today's meeting, the two sides discussed how the TBT committee will be run in the future and how it can boost cooperation in tackling TBT-related issues," the ministry said in a press release.

The ministry added the committee will hold annual meetings in alternating countries with additional meetings also available when necessary.

China is the world's single largest importer of South Korean goods, accounting for nearly one-fourth of South Korea's total outbound shipments.

However, South Korea's exports to China have been on the wane despite the implementation of the Korea-China FTA in December 2015.

In February alone, South Korean exports to China plunged 12.9 percent on-year to US$8.9 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of drops. South Korea's overall exports have fallen every single month since the start of 2015.

The drop in shipments to China has partly been attributed to a cut in China's own exports, but also to China's non-tariff barriers such as what the South Korean finance minister has called "excessive quarantine" regulations.

"The Korea-China FTA went into effect late last year, but various non-tariff barriers such as excessive quarantine and safety regulations continue to keep our key export items, such as food and cosmetics, from the Chinese market," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said while meeting with a group of local exporters earlier this week.

Following the meeting of the bilateral TBT committee, the issue will likely be discussed at a higher level when South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan and his Chinese counterpart hold bilateral talks in Beijing this week, ministry officials noted.

Joo was scheduled to depart for China later in the day.

bdk@yna.co.kr

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