Industrial parks between China and the Republic of Korea will be set up in three Chinese cities, according to a circular released by the State Council on Friday.
Also on Friday, China’s Premier Li Keqiang said China would like to further align development strategies and begin talks on the second round of the existing free-trade agreement with the Republic of Korea when meeting with ROK President Moon Jae-in.
Yancheng city in East China’s Jiangsu province, Yantai city in East China’s Shandong province and Huizhou in South China’s Guangdong province were approved to build China-ROK industrial parks jointly with the ROK, the circular said.
The three zones were urged to advance China-ROK cooperation in local economy and high-end industries.
The zones will put the China-ROK free trade agreement in place, promote experiences of China’s pilot free trade zones, and take the lead in dovetailing strategies for the two countries, co-building the Belt and Road Initiative and deepening trade and investment cooperation, according to the circular.
The circular urged provincial governments to take responsibility for formulating implementation plans as soon as possible.
It stated the Ministry of Commerce will coordinate and supervise the development of the zones.
These three new parks should implement provisions of the China-ROK free-trade agreement and replicate experiences of the China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone to build demonstration zones for strategy alignment and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, the circular said.
Keyang Motor Project is a Korea-funded project settled down in the Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone, the core area of China-South Korea Yancheng Industrial Park. Covering an area of 70 acres and boasting a total investment of 60 million U.S. dollars, the company supplies micro-motor and motor to the Great Wall, Geely, GM and other auto brands. Construction on the project is divided into two phases with the first phase expected to turn out 200 million yuan of output value upon its operation.
Yancheng was identified as one of the first cities for China-South Korea Industrial Park cooperation in June 2015 when the China-ROK Trade Agreement was signed officially.
According to the industrial plan in Yancheng, the China and South Korea Yancheng Industrial Park will come up with a layout featuring one park and three zones in the core areas of the National Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone, focusing on the development of new energy vehicles, intelligent Internet of Vehicles and the next generation of information technology industry. The park is expected to turn out 100 billion yuan of GDP by the end of 2020.
