At the end of February, China and South Korea completed the initialing of the entire text of the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and confirmed the content of the agreement. The scope covers 17 areas including trade in goods, trade in services, investment and rules. It is reported that more than 90% of products will be traded with zero tariffs, and there has been a wave of enthusiasm in China to seize opportunities in this largest free trade zone involving countries.
“Korean traders used to come to Zengcheng and Dongguan, Guangdong to find factories for processing and production, and then gradually moved to Shandong.” Bai Yun, secretary-general of the Dongguan Textile and Garment Association, said that now the clothing companies exporting to South Korea are mainly in Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Mainly, Dongguan’s textile and apparel industry still focuses on Europe and the United States as its main export markets. He believes that South Korea’s light industries such as textiles and clothing are relatively developed, and zero tariffs are only a benefit. Exports still need to build competitive advantages from the products themselves. Chen Yaohua, vice president of the Guangdong Textile and Apparel Industry Association, attaches more importance to the launch of the China-Korea Free Trade Zone, which will bring another opportunity to Dongguan’s textile and apparel, electronics and other industries. “South Korea has advantages in the design, R&D and other aspects of apparel and other industries. , its textile fabrics are very good, so Dongguan City can consider introducing more Korean textile electromechanical equipment in the future.”
