The China Korea Free Trade Agreement injects lasting momentum into Rizhao's trade with South Korea (pictured)

The picture shows: Customs officers conducting research on transmission companies, photographed by Shi Wanli

Empowered by a ten-year agreement, achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes over the next decade. By the end of 2025, the China Korea Free Trade Agreement will celebrate its tenth anniversary of entry into force. Shandong Rizhao, with its advantageous port location and policy empowerment, has provided "zero tariff" benefits directly to the production line of enterprises, setting up a fast lane for economic and trade cooperation between Rizhao and South Korea across the sea.

Entering Rizhao Yin'an Xiaote Sports Goods Co., Ltd., the sound of sewing machines is incessant, and pieces of cowhide are finely processed into high-performance baseball gloves that meet the standards of the Korean market. As a country with a strong baseball culture, South Korea is the core target market for the company, and the tariff benefits of the China Korea Free Trade Agreement have become the "golden key" for the company to expand its market.

The company's president, Yoon Eun seok, is a former South Korean professional baseball player and coach. After conducting multiple investigations, he ultimately chose to invest in building a factory in Rizhao and spends over 10 months in China each year, often active in local and surrounding baseball promotion events.

The annual export volume of baseball gloves we produce is about 30000 to 35000 sets, and the order volume is also increasing. They can enjoy zero tariff treatment during customs clearance in Korea, which not only enhances the competitiveness of product prices, but also consolidates our long-term relationship with Korean partners, "said Yin Enxi. In 2025, the company processed 89 certificates of origin for the China Korea Free Trade Agreement, and sometimes imported some Korean leather raw materials according to customer customization needs.

As a coastal port city, Rizhao faces South Korea across the sea and has convenient sea transportation routes. With the strong support of preferential policies in the China Korea Free Trade Agreement, the market share of advantageous products such as automotive parts and electromechanical products exported from Rizhao in the Korean market continues to expand. As a professional manufacturer of automotive parts, Hyundai Tandis Automatic Transmission Co., Ltd. holds an important share of its export market in South Korea. Over the past decade, the tariff gradient reduction policy under free trade agreements has continuously reduced the export costs of enterprises.

The import tariff rate for our company's continuously variable transmissions exported to South Korea has been reduced from the initial 8% to 1.6% this year during customs clearance in South Korea, and will continue to be reduced to zero in the future. This not only directly reduces the procurement cost for our Korean customers, but also further consolidates our long-term stable cooperative relationship, "said Wang Yanbin, the customs clearance department head of the company. The company imports a large number of transmission components from South Korea every year, and processes them into transmissions with domestic matching. In addition to exporting to foreign markets such as South Korea, it also supplies domestic vehicle manufacturers.

While enterprises enjoy policy dividends, customs also continue to provide precise services. Over the past decade, Rizhao Customs, a subsidiary of Qingdao Customs, has continuously optimized its supervision and service efficiency, vigorously promoted the "intelligent review+self-service printing" mode of origin certificates, and compressed the certificate review time to "seconds". By 2025, Rizhao Customs will issue 2657 certificates of origin under the China Korea Free Trade Agreement for goods exported to South Korea, with a self-service printing rate of 99.95% for enterprises.

Through a combination of online lectures and offline customs enterprise symposiums, the customs has carried out multiple rounds of comprehensive policy promotion to ensure that foreign trade enterprises in the jurisdiction are aware, understand, and use the benefits. At the same time, trade data is analyzed and compared to accurately screen out enterprises that may have insufficient benefits, and proactively provide customized benefit plan guidance on-site, "said Sun Baotong, head of the Comprehensive Business Department of Rizhao Customs.

Data shows that in the past decade, Rizhao has had close trade exchanges with South Korea. By 2025, the city's total import and export value of foreign trade will exceed 130 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%. Among them, imports and exports to South Korea amounted to 9.05 billion yuan, making it the fourth largest single trade market in Rizhao. Against the backdrop of global trade uncertainty, the China South Korea Free Trade Agreement provides strong resilience for bilateral trade through the certainty of rules.

Chen Wei, Deputy Director of Rizhao Customs, stated that Rizhao Customs will take the 10th anniversary of the effective date of the China Korea Free Trade Agreement as a new starting point, continue to work together in optimizing supervision, facilitating visas, and providing precise assistance to enterprises, constantly exploring new mechanisms and paths to serve the high-quality development of foreign trade, and enhancing the competitiveness of our city's exports to South Korea. Strengthening the resilience of regional industrial and supply chains contributes to promoting higher levels of opening-up in Rizhao City. (Sun Wenhui/Text)