HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― A possible free trade agreement between Korea and China has put Taiwan under pressure to speed up follow-up trade talks with China, Taiwanese government officials said Tuesday.

In early January, Korea and China agreed to start formal negotiations for a free trade agreement with the aim to launch talks before the end of June.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economics said the country must quickly move toward securing follow-up trade and economic agreements with China, saying it has “fallen behind” its major trade rival Korea.

“We must complete talks before China and South Korea do,” said Shih Yen-shiang, Taiwan’s economics minister.

In 2010, China and Taiwan signed a trade pact called the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which eliminates tariffs on hundreds of Taiwanese goods.

The agreement, which is to be carried out in three phases by 2013, was seen to have a negative impact on South Korean exporters as many of them are competing against Taiwanese companies.

In its next round of talks with China, Taiwan aims to enjoy lower tariffs on automobiles, flat panels and machine tools. The talks are expected to be held between late February and early March.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is the largest export destination for both South Korea and Taiwan.

According to the Korean International Trade Association (KITA), out of the top 20 items that South Korea exports to China, 14 overlap with those of Taiwan.

Those items, which include electronic circuits, semiconductor devices and liquid display devices, make up 60 percent of South Korea’s total exports to China.