Strengthening S. Korea-China economic ties

Now... with Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Seoul and a slew of economic deals freshly signed, it would be fair to say that the economic relationship between South Korea and China has never been better.
Bilateral trade has jumped many folds in recent years and cooperation is beginning to expand into financial and other new sectors.
Connie Kim reports on the rapidly expanding economic and business relationship.
Chinese company Tencent has begun investing 523 million U.S. dollars in Korea's CJ Games, which it says will be completed by the end of this year.
The single case of investment far exceeds the total sum of investment by all Chinese companies last year,...that stood at just over 480 million dollars.

The Tencent's move is the departure from a traditional investment pattern by Chinese companies that used to limit their investments in real estate.

Last week's agreement between the two countries to let their businessmen to settle their bilateral trade in their own currencies will open a new window of opportunities in the financial sector.

"The biggest achievement with President Xi Jinping's vist to Seoul was pushing for financial cooperation between the two countries. Allowing direct trading between the won and the yuan and allowing yuan-holding Korean companies to directly invest in China's stock and fund markets will greatly contribute to expanding cooperation in the financial industry.

The agreement between President Park Geun-hye and President Xi last week to make every effort to conclude a free trade agreement this year will further boost rapidly expanding bilateral trade.
Korea's two-way trade with China jumped more than 50 fold to 230-billion dollars last year from 1992 when the two nations set up diplomatic ties.
That exceeds the combined value of Korea's trade with the U.S. and Japan.
Once a free trade deal is reached, the leaders of the countries expect their trade value to top 300-billion dollars next year.

Experts, caution, however, that to keep expanding business ties between the two economies in a complimentary way, Korean companies must maintain its technological superiority and improve competitiveness in the service industry.
Connie Kim, Arirang News.