South Korea and China on Saturday agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on their shared vision of building logistics, trade and infrastructure networks that connect Asia, Europe and Africa.
Citing similarities between Seoul’s “Eurasia Initiative” and Beijing’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” the two sides said they would collaborate in a wide range of fields including policy formulation, infrastructure connectivity, investments and trade promotion, and financial cooperation.
The agreement was signed between Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and Xu Shaoshi, head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission after South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for joint efforts to synergize and integrate the two initiatives during a summit at Cheong Wa Dae.
The Eurasia Initiative is Park’s centerpiece foreign policy that envisions a transcontinental railway linking South Korea and Europe, through North Korea.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a trade and infrastructure network that includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
