Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng met with South Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea on the afternoon of June 1. The two sides exchanged views on China-South Korea relations and bilateral relations in various areas.

Gao Hucheng said over recent years, China-South Korea relations have expanded with overall, widespread and multi-layer cooperation. The country leaders of both sides had frequent visits and people have become increasingly intimate friends, and the bilateral trade and economic cooperation enjoyed a rapid growth in particular, and has become a ballast and booster for bilateral relations. With joint concern and promotion of top leaders from both sides, China-South Korea FTA was officially signed today, which is bound to provide new opportunities for bilateral trade and economic cooperation in the future and also make a sound foundation for both sides to upgrade bilateral politics and diplomatic relations. The Chinese government attaches great importance to China-South Korea relations, and would like to take this opportunity to comprehensively implement the important consensus reached by country leaders of both sides and advance the constant development of China-South Korea strategic partnership.

Yun Byung-se spoke highly of China’s evaluation of the China-South Korea relations and China-South Korea FTA. He said the South Korean side attaches much importance to the China-South Korea strategic partnership, and will work with the Chinese side to expand bilateral cooperation in various areas and consolidate and develop bilateral relations.

The two sides also exchanged views on common concerns of jointly building the “Belt and Road” construction, promoting regional integration process, formulating China-South Korea trade and economic development joint plan and deepening the role of China-South Korea trade and economic joint commission. Chinese ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong attended the meeting.