Ministry of Commerce: Willing to promote the early resumption of negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.
As the international economic situation becomes more complex, economic cooperation in Northeast Asia is becoming more and more important. Recently, at the press conference of the Ministry of Commerce, Shenzhen Satellite TV Direct News raised a question about the resumption of negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, and the response of Shu Jueting, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, once again pushed this issue to the forefront of the public eye.
When asked what are China's specific expectations and plans for the FTA negotiations? In the current turbulent global environment, how can the China-Japan-Korea FTA promote the economic development of the three countries? In response to the regular press conference on November 30, Shu Jueting, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said that China attaches great importance to the resumption of negotiations on the China-Japan-ROK FTA, and looks forward to jointly promoting regional integration and common prosperity by strengthening economic cooperation among the three countries. Shu Jueting's response reflects China's positive attitude and commitment in the process of regional economic integration. In the context of globalization, China, Japan and the ROK have strong economic complementarity and great potential for cooperation. The resumption of negotiations is not only related to the economic development of the three countries, but also to the stability and prosperity of the regional and global economies.
Press conference of the Ministry of Commerce.
Just four days before the Ministry of Commerce's response, on November 26, the 10th meeting of China, Japan, and South Korea's foreign ministers reopened again after four years.
Wang Yi, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and head of the Communist Party of China, stressed at the meeting that the three countries should adhere to advocating mutual benefit and win-win results, restart negotiations on the China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement as soon as possible, maintain the momentum of regional economic integration, improve multi-channel and multi-level regional free trade arrangements, and contribute to the common goal of moving towards the free trade area of the Asia-Pacific. It is necessary to persist in deepening scientific and technological innovation, strengthen cooperation in cutting-edge scientific and technological fields such as big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, jointly maintain the stability and smoothness of the production and supply chain, optimize and upgrade, and enhance the resilience of regional production networks.
Liu Ying, director of the cooperative research department of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of Chinese, believes that Wang Yi emphasized the importance of trilateral cooperation and put forward a series of suggestions to promote cooperation. In the current international situation, the dialogue highlights the urgency and importance of strengthening cooperation among the three countries, especially in the fields of investment, scientific and technological innovation.
The 10th China-Japan-ROK Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Busan, South Korea, on November 26. (Source: Yonhap News Agency).
Why is it now necessary to "restart" the negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea FTA?
Since 2008, China, Japan and the ROK have established 21 ministerial meetings and more than 70 dialogue mechanisms to promote trilateral cooperation, which have become the main platforms for deepening cooperation among the three countries.
In 2002, at the China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Summit, the establishment of the China-Japan-South Korea Free Zone was proposed for the first time; At the 2012 Trilateral Leaders' Meeting, the three sides announced that they would start negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in 2012, and signed the Trilateral Agreement on Investment Promotion, Facilitation and Protection after the meeting. The first round of negotiations on the China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement began in March 2013, 20 years ago, during which the negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement have experienced twists and turns due to complex geopolitical conflicts, historical understandings, territorial disputes and other issues. At present, 16 rounds of negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea FTA have been completed.
In 2019, the China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting issued the "China-Japan-South Korea Cooperation Outlook for the Next Ten Years" made it clear that China, Japan and South Korea will accelerate the negotiation of the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement on the basis of the results of the RCEP negotiations, and strive to reach a comprehensive, high-quality, mutually beneficial and self-valued free trade agreement.
Liu Ying believes that after ASEAN and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand reached a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and fully implemented it this year, the world's largest free trade area RCEP has been completed, which provides important support and infrastructure for the continued promotion of the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Area. In addition, at a time when the world economic recovery is struggling, the resumption of negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea FTA is not only beneficial to China, Japan and South Korea, but also to the world economy.
After all, China, Japan and South Korea account for 1 4 percent of the world's total economy and 1 5 percent of the world's populationChina, Japan and South Korea account for more than 70% of the economic and trade scale in Asia, strengthening the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement negotiations is conducive to China, Japan and South Korea economic investment, and restarting the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Area negotiations is of great significance for reshaping the global industrial chain. Liu Ying said.
RCEP+" and the China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
It is worth noting that Shu Jueting also mentioned the concept of "RCEP+" at the meeting.
She said that previously, the three parties reached an important consensus on building a comprehensive, high-level, mutually beneficial and self-valuable China-Japan-South Korea free trade agreement, and agreed to further improve the level and rules and standards of goods, services and investment liberalization on the basis of RCEP, and create a "RCEP+" free trade agreement.
Liu Ying analyzed that the "RCEP+" free trade agreement mentioned by Shu Jueting is an expansion and deepening on the basis of RCEP. "On the basis of the level and rules and standards of the original negotiated goods, services and investment liberalization, we will make a leap to create a RCEP+ free trade agreement, that is, the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Area will be further upgraded on the basis of RCEP", Liu Ying stressed that it is necessary to lead the economic development of Asia in East Asia in terms of both the total amount and quality of China, Japan and South Korea, and it is necessary to increase efficiency on the basis of the original negotiated goods, services, rules of origin and investment liberalization.
The challenge of restarting the agreement: the choice between Japan and South Korea.
In the context of Northeast Asia's economic integration, the resumption of negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is seen as a key step in regional cooperation. However, according to Liu's analysis, this process faces several major challenges.
Liu Ying believes that first of all, the strategic autonomy of Japan and South Korea has become a key factor. In particular, Japan has historically been Xi of building alliances to safeguard its national interests, and whether it can be independent in the economic and trade fields and put its own interests first is an important consideration. Second, it is also a challenge whether Japan and South Korea can focus on advancing the China-Japan-South Korea FTA negotiations, discarding other considerations and aiming for East Asian economic integration and regional economic development. Finally, the differences in economic development stages and industrial competitiveness between China, Japan and South Korea require the three countries to work together to eliminate external interference, work towards the conclusion of FTA negotiations, and promote economic, trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.
As Liu Ying pointed out, the resumption of negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea FTA faces complex challenges such as strategic autonomy, regional economic development goals, and differences in economic development stages and industrial competitiveness. However, despite the difficulties such as strategic autonomy and differences in economic development, these challenges do not mean the end of the negotiations.
Liu Ying: There is a great possibility that the China-Japan-ROK FTA negotiations will resume.
When asked about the potential possibility of the resumption of negotiations, Liu Ying was happy about the situation, saying that China's rapid development is extremely attractive to Japan and South Korea, and combined with its own strong economic development needs and the easing of Sino-US relations, it provides a more favorable environment for negotiations.
In this transition, it can be seen that despite the difficulties, the willingness and economic strength of the three countries to cooperate provide a strong impetus for the final conclusion of the free trade agreement, Liu Ying believes that if Japan and South Korea can clearly understand their own positioning and the potential of the Chinese market, as well as the importance of the chip market, they may be more actively involved in the negotiations.
For Japan and South Korea, establishing closer economic and trade relations with an economic power like China will not only provide greater market opportunities for domestic enterprises, but also help strengthen economic cooperation and development at the regional and global levels. Liu Ying said.
Author丨Tian Xin, Shenzhen Satellite TV direct news reporter in Beijing.