2015年CRI China, ROK, Japan Start 8th Round of FTA Talks

 

The two-day session is mainly focused on areas such as trade in commodities and services, as well as investment.

Chinese Vice¹ Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen says taking down trade barriers is critical, particularly given what's been happening in East Asia this year.

"During the first eight months of this year, bilateral² trade between China and Japan decreased by almost 11 percent. China-South Korea bilateral trade dropped by close to 5 percent. Trade between Japan and Korea is not that good either. So this, again, indicates the importance of the work we are doing at this moment."

The combined GDP of China, Japan and South Korea is over 16-trillion U.S. dollars.

This represents over 20-percent of the world's economic volume.

Bilateral trade among China, South Korea and Japan came in at around 600-billion US dollars last year.

However, a number of factors, both political and economic, have seen the 3-way talks make little progress over the past 3-years.

Chinese trade observer Mei Yuxin says the Japanese government has been digging its heels in on a number of issues.

"What Japan wants is not practical, and it's starting to impact its economy. Japan has missed opportunities in China this past decade of rapid growth. The Japanese side has put forward a number of high benchmarks as part of the talks, but no one knows whether these standards will boost trade."

With the Free Trade Agreement between China and South Korea taking effect back in June, South Korean exports to China now outnumber Japan.

Because of this, Chinese trade specialist Jin Baisong says the South Korean side appears to have become somewhat territorial³ when it comes to its market access in China.

He says this is starting to raise questions about whether a 3-way trade agreement may actually work.

"In fact, I don't think China will benefit from a trilateral FTA agreement, given the other two sides are not willing to open their markets as widely as we do. Japan may want to push forward with the talks, given the substantial benefits South Korea has gained from the FTA with China. But the South Korean negotiators have been becoming more reluctant to make concessions⁴, as they don't want to see any more competitors in China."

Despite this, Jin Baisong says the three should still be thinking about the bigger picture.

"Though the negotiations⁵ continue, it is hard to predict what will happen. I suggest the three countries should be looking beyond East Asia, and start considering an FTA that also includes the 10 ASEAN countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand and India. It's just a bigger opportunity."

The tri-party FTA talks started in November of 2012 after the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea reached a consensus⁶ in May of that year.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？