Korea and China held their first official round of bilateral talks Wednesday aimed toward removing nontariff barriers.

“The Korea-China FTA went into effect late last year, but various nontariff barriers such as excessive quarantine and safety regulations continue to keep our key export items, such as food and cosmetics, from the Chinese market,” Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a meeting with a group of local exporters earlier this week.

The meeting was held in Beijing, marking the first ever meeting of 14 trade-related committees created under the FTA that went into effect late last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

China is the world’s single largest importer of Korean goods, accounting for nearly one-fourth of Korea’s total outbound shipments.

However, Korea’s exports to China have been dwindling despite the implementation of the FTA in December 2015.

In February, South Korean exports to China plunged 12.9 percent on-year to $8.9 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline.

The drop in shipments has partly been attributed to a cut in exports of the world’s No. 2 economy, and also to China’s nontariff barriers such as what the Korean finance minister called “excessive quarantine” regulations.

Following the latest bilateral meeting, higher level discussions between Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan and his Chinese counterpart will be held in Beijing later this week, ministry officials noted.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)