Finance chiefs of Korea and China agreed to tighten policy cooperation to boost regional developments and seek solutions to social problems they share, Korea’s Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

The agreement was reached during a four-hour meeting between Korean Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan and his Chinese counterpart Zhang Ping in Seoul, in which the two sides discussed issues facing both nations including inflation, environmental protection, risks from the European debt crisis and boosting domestic consumption. Zhang Ping is the chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission. 

“There was a common understanding that Asia will need to play a greater role in the global economy and that they need to accelerate regional integration to increase trade as demand for Asian goods is rising in advanced countries,” the Finance Ministry said.

“The need is growing for policy cooperation including sharing of experience related to economic measures,” the ministry said.

During the meeting, the Korean minister emphasized the importance of accelerating Korean firms’ advance into the Chinese market, officials said.

In a separate luncheon meeting with heads of financial companies and economists, Bahk said Seoul is confident of averting dangers.

“As we have successfully weathered crises, the government already has some types of (crisis) response protocols in place,” Bahk told heads of major think tanks, securities companies and economic policymakers.

Bahk’s comments came as the risk of domino-style defaults from indebted European countries rattled local stocks and currencies.

Attendees included Lee Ju-yeol, senior deputy governor of Bank of Korea, Choo Kyung-ho, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Kwon Soon-woo, chief of macro desk at Samsung Economic Research Institute, and Kwon Goo-hoon, a senior Goldman Sachs economist.

“We are well-aware of what measures should be taken in any circumstance and are ready to take appropriate actions in case we have a situation,” Bahk said.

By Cynthia J. Kim (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)