China is seeking to prevent instability that could prompt an influx of refugees crossing over the 880-mile (1,416-kilometer) border it shares with North Korea.
China accounted for 79 percent of North Korea’s 2009 international trade. China provides almost 90 percent of energy imports and 45 percent of the country’s food, the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said in a 2009 report.
Exports to China, South Korea’s largest market, increased 16 percent to $129.8 billion in 2011 from a year ago, according to government data.
China-South Korea Summit to Focus on Free Trade Accord, North’s Success
ReplyDeleteby Shinhye Kang and Sangwon Yoon
Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-05/china-s-korea-summit-to-focus-on-free-trade-north-succession.html
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Chinese President Hu Jintao will consider a free-trade agreement at a summit next week that will also include discussion of North Korea’s leadership succession.
ReplyDeleteHu may boost aid to North Korea to strengthen Kim Jong Un’s hand in consolidating power after the death of his father. China is seeking to prevent instability that could prompt an influx of refugees crossing over the 880-mile (1,416-kilometer) border it shares with North Korea.
China accounted for 79 percent of North Korea’s 2009 international trade. China provides almost 90 percent of energy imports and 45 percent of the country’s food, the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said in a 2009 report.
Lee will also meet with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in a visit that underscores deepening economic ties between the two countries. Exports to China, South Korea’s largest market, increased 16 percent to $129.8 billion in 2011 from a year ago, according to government data.
China hopes Lee’s visit will elevate the two countries’ strategic partnership “to a new level,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a briefing yesterday in Beijing.