Jeong Manki, Vice Chairman of Muhyeop, "Improvement of China's Manufacturing Competitiveness... Need to Revise Korea-China FTA"

Martial Arts, Holds 'Export Expansion Strategy Meeting by Major Markets'
"Need to Distinguish China's Deficit Factors by Short and Long Term"
"Global Trade Uncertainty Increases"

Jung Manki, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), argued that the need to revise the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) should be raised with the Chinese side.

Vice Chairman Jung made this statement on the 16th at the Trade Tower in Samseong-dong during the 'Export Expansion Strategy Meeting by Major Markets' held to support export recovery. The meeting was attended by heads of 10 KITA overseas branches. The branches present included Tokyo, New York, Washington D.C., Brussels, Beijing, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh, New Delhi, Jakarta, and UAE branches.

At the 'Export Expansion Strategy Meeting by Major Markets' held on the 16th at Trade Tower in Samseong-dong, Jeong Manki, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, is delivering a greeting. [Photo by Korea International Trade Association]

Vice Chairman Jung explained regarding the trade deficit with China, "It is necessary to precisely identify the factors of our trade deficit with China by distinguishing between short-term and long-term causes," adding, "From a mid- to long-term perspective, China's manufacturing competitiveness in electric vehicles, secondary batteries, and other sectors has rapidly improved over the past few years, but the existing Korea-China FTA product tariff concessions work disadvantageously for our companies without considering changes in conditions."

He emphasized, "We need to analyze these issues and raise the necessity of revising the Korea-China FTA with the Chinese side," and added, "Going forward, KITA will actively support efforts to enter emerging markets such as Vietnam, India, and Indonesia, where corporate demand is increasing."

Additionally, Vice Chairman Jung diagnosed, "Our export slump, including 12 consecutive months of export decline, is due to the sluggish global ICT product market," and said, "If the global ICT market demand rebounds next year as predicted by specialized institutions, exports of ICT products such as semiconductors will recover, and overall exports will also improve."

He also stated, "As risks increase due to recent conflicts such as the Israel-Hamas dispute, uncertainty in global trade is growing, so strengthening market monitoring and preparing countermeasures will be necessary," and added, "To support the recovery of our exports, KITA's overseas branches are utilizing local networks to monitor corporate difficulties in real time, while identifying major policies and export risks of key products by country, sharing these with the industry, and making recommendations to the government to urge counterparties to make efforts to resolve issues."

KITA plans to continue supporting the establishment of export strategies for Korean companies by regularly holding overseas branch meetings to review issues by major markets and establish future response directions. In addition, by utilizing the local networks of overseas branches, KITA will discover opportunities for Korean companies to enter markets, including national-level infrastructure projects, and will also support the management of export risks for key products.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.