Officials of Korea's foreign ministry and China's commerce ministry hold their 29th Korea-China Joint Economic Commission in Beijing, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Korea and China have reaffirmed the need to work together to ensure stable supply chains for critical minerals, rare earths and other materials amid growing global uncertainties, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
They shared the understanding during the Joint Economic Commission, a high-level bilateral economic dialogue, led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina and Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Yan Dong, in Beijing on Monday.
As the two countries agreed during recent reciprocal leaders' visits to restore their strategic partnership and bolster economic cooperation, they also pledged to double down on efforts to continue friendly cooperation "in a mutually beneficial manner," the ministry said.
"In particular, they reaffirmed the need to stably manage supply chains for critical minerals, rare earths, urea and other materials, and agreed to closely communicate through existing dialogue channels," it said.
They also agreed to work together to facilitate bilateral trade and investment amid mounting global uncertainties, including by advancing free trade negotiations in the services and investment sectors, with a view to delivering tangible outcomes for businesses in both countries.
The two sides shared the need to foster stable and predictable business environments.
Established in 1992, the joint commission has served as a bilateral dialogue channel between Seoul and Beijing for broad talks on economy-related issues of mutual concern and efforts to promote economic cooperation.
Source: Korea Times News
