A Study on the Korea-China Trade Cooperation Focusing on the Korea-China FTA

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In the 21st century, global trade has become a key factor in boosting a country’s economy. After several years’ negotiation, the Korea-China FTA was finally signed on December 20, 2015. This marks a further trade liberalization between Korea and China. Both trade in goods and trade in service between Korea and China grew dramatically in the past decade. Historically, Korea primarily exported intermediate goods such as electronic devices to China. China will do the assembly work. Since 1990s, Korea has gained a large trade surplus with China. The Korea-China FTA is estimated to boost South Korea-China trade to over US$300 billion a year. On the other hand, some scholars possess negative views. If Korea doesn’t take certain action to protect its agricultural industry, the agricultural industry would have to face a worse future. The trade intensity index and the revealed comparative advantage index suggest that Korea should not worry too much about China’s agricultural influence. The regional trade cooperation will provide more benefits than potential costs for Korean economy. If Korea effectively utilizes these benefits, it could also be a business hub that connects the United States and European countries to Asian economies.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. Introduction 1
• Ⅱ. Korea-China economic linkage 4
• 2.1 The trade volume between Korea and China 4
• 2.2 The trade structures between Korea and China 8
• 2.3 Korea-China regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region 12
• 2.3.1 Korea-China FTA 12
• 2.3.2 The Trans-Pacific Partnership 23
• 2.3.3 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership 25
• III. Evaluation of Korea-China regional economic cooperation 31
• 3.1 Effects of Korea-China FTA: literature survey 31
• 3.2 Effects of Korea-China FTA: a quantitative analysis 37
• 3.2.1 Trade Intensity Index 37
• 3.2.2 Revealed Comparative Advantage Index 43
• 3.3 External factors to be considered for Korea-China cooperation 50
• 3.3.1 Effects of TPP 50
• 3.3.2 Effects of RCEP 52
• Ⅳ. Policy implication 60
• Ⅴ. Conclusion and recommendation 68
• Bibliography 71