China is willing to work with the Republic of Korea on accelerating negotiations on a free trade agreement, deepening bilateral economic cooperation, Premier Li Keqiang said.

After years of research on the feasibility of the bilateral trade pact, the two nations started talks this year, followed by trilateral FTA talks between China, the ROK and Japan.

China has been the ROK's largest trade partner for many years, and Seoul's reliance on the Chinese market in foreign trade and exports has increased in recent years.

According to the General Administration of Customs, China's imports from the ROK in 2012 grew by 3.7 percent year-on-year to $168.7 billion, and its exports to the ROK rose by 5.7 percent to $87.7 billion.

Li said the ties between the two countries represent one of the most important relationships in the Asia-Pacific region, and China expects the two countries to further enhance communications and coordination.

With the Doha Round of trade negotiations suspended, China has been advancing talks on a series of bilateral trade pacts amid the European debt crisis. In mid-April, China and Iceland signed a free trade agreement, Beijing's first such agreement with a European nation.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/25/2013 page11)