Exports of kimchi to China may finally get a boost following the bilateral summit meeting between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

At talks held Thursday, the two leaders agreed to expand cooperation and exchanges in the food sector as well as review various regulatory standards that Seoul has argued effectively made it impossible to export kimchi to China.

Kimchi is a salted, spicy fermented side dish made with either pickled cabbage, cucumber or radishes. South Korean food companies ship some $90 million worth of the dish annually to countries such as Japan, Taiwan and the United States, but they have been all but shut out of the Chinese market due to Beijing’s guidelines on the country’s pickled vegetables, pao cai, which are applied to kimchi.

Korea, which has no such restriction, imports more than $100 million worth of kimchi from China every year. (Yonhap)