Senior trade officials discussed ways to create a joint industrial zone and develop investment platforms and reached an agreement to expand exchanges between companies of the two nations, the Seoul government said.

During the meeting, Seoul officials asked for the Chinese government to create a fair business environment for its electric vehicle battery makers that have been excluded from the list of Beijing government subsidies. South Korea, moreover, asked its key trading partner to address concerns over an anti-trust investigation into South Korean chipmakers.

The meeting came while Seoul and Beijing have been negotiating to expand the scope of their bilateral free trade agreement to better cover the service and investment sectors. (Yonhap)