Aiming to boost the Korea-China free trade agreement’s effects, the Trade Ministry has announced that industrial complexes that will oversee development, investment attraction and management will be established.

The 4.5 square-kilometer space inside the Saemangeum-Gunsan Free Economic Zone of North Jeolla Province was selected as the first location for the Korea-China FTA Industrial Complex in June.

The SGFEZ is already scheduled to host 81 companies once it gradually opens from 2017. Japanese corporation Toray Industries has just begun operating its manufacturing plant there and the Chinese solar panel manufacturer CNPV has signed up to invest 300 billion won ($260 million).

Mindful of the industrial complex and others to come, the SGFEZ authorities are planning to redevelop the space into a regulation-free zone, where authorization or accreditation processes for customs, construction, labor, immigration and many more will be simplified. The Trade Ministry pledged to create the “three-no” zones, where there are no business hurdles, inconveniences in living as well as cultural discrimination.

South Korea and the China have also agreed on the future direction of granting extra perks to companies that operate in such industrial complexes.

The Chinese authorities are reportedly considering Yantai of Shandong Prefecture, Yancheng City and Guangdong Province as the possible candidates for FTA industrial complexes.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)