Beijing and Tokyo hold first trade talks

South Korean trade ministry has announced that it is preparing for the first round of the free trade talks (FTT) among the Northeast Asian, namely South Korea,, China and Japan late this March in Seoul. Radio Korea (KBS) said the three Northeast Asian countries announced the start of such talks among them earlier in Nov.2012 where they agreed to hold three rounds of FTT during this year, 2013 including the agenda and venue, Seoul’s trade ministry said Tuesday. In November last year, the three nations declared the start of free trade talks aimed at boosting their trade, a move also seen to help ease territorial tension in the Northeast Asian region. Among the main issues to be discussed is the classification of so-called sensitive products. In the previous round of talks, the countries agreed on removing tariffs on products within 10 years after the implementation of their free trade agreement. Agriculture and fisheries are considered to be the most sensitive sectors for South Korea, whereas the automobile, machinery and oil sectors are China’s sensitive sectors. For his part, Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said on Friday regional and sub-regional trade negotiations should be transparent and inclusive. Recently South Korea and China hold their fourth round of free trade talks where the sides will aim to draw up negotiation guidelines for each sector. The latest talks come after the countries announced the launch of formal free trade negotiations in May.