Government officials from Wuxi and South Korea attend the signing ceremony. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Wuxi New District (WND) and South Korea's ChungBuk Free Economic Zone (CBFEZ) will join hands to establish an industrial zone to promote bilateral cooperation in industrial development, technological and financial innovation and service trade.

The two parties signed on Aug 24 an agreement to set up China-South Korea (Wuxi) Science and Technology Financial Service Cooperation Zone in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province.

The industrial zone cooperation agreement follows the signing of a free trade agreement between China and South Korea on June 1, 2015, which calls for increased cooperation between municipal governments and industrial zones in both countries.

The zone, with a planning area of 89 square km in WND, will consist of four parks featuring high-end manufacturing, technological innovation, modern service industry and science and technology financing.

The cooperation zone will be the first-step cooperation between the two sides, according to the head of CBFEZ, who said the creation of the zone will help make Wuxi an ideal destination for South Korean investments, while, at the same time, attracting local talents and enterprises to start businesses in South Korea.

So far, more than 200 South Korean enterprises have investments in WND with a total investment value of more than $12 billion. The South Korean government has also opened a public international school and launched an air route between Wuxi and South Korea to serve nearly 6,000 South Koreans who live and work in the district.

CBFEZ, located in Chungcheongbuk-do, serves the cities of Chungju and Cheongju in central part of South Korea. As one of the country's eight free economic zones to attract foreign investment, CBFEZ boasts convenient transportation, R&D infrastructure and large bio and IT clusters.

Edited by Mevlut Katik