China, ROK actively preparing for free trade agreement talks: official

China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are preparing for the second round of talks on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) that has been effective for nearly two years and generated mutual benefits.

The negotiations, which are under active preparation, will be focused on services and investment, and will result in a negative list, said Gao Feng, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, at a press conference held in Beijing Thursday.

"China is willing to expand economic and trade cooperation with the ROK to jointly build and advance reciprocal bilateral ties," Gao said.

Taking effect at the end of 2015, the China-ROK FTA was designed to boost trade and bolster economic growth amid a lackluster global recovery and rising protectionism. The two sides have carried out three waves of tax reductions.

So far, there have been 63,000 ROK-funded projects in China and more than 71.6 billion U.S. dollars of investment by ROK businesses.

The two countries still have huge potential in collaboration under the Belt and Road Initiative, trade facilitation and industrial capacity, Gao said.