The degree of market opening as enforced by the China-Korea FTA when it comes to the entertainment business is the highest and most comprehensive. (image: Kobizmedia/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — As the Korea-China free trade agreement came to a conclusion after 30 months of negotiations, attention is paid to who will benefit from the trade deal.
Woo Tae-hee, chief negotiator for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said on November 10 in a press briefing, “Cultural exchange in the area of entertainment will be vitalized as more joint production of films and dramas will occur more frequently.” “By strengthening intellectual property rights, we will be able to protect Korean Wave contents more effectively in China,” he added.
The degree of market opening as enforced by the China-Korea FTA when it comes to the entertainment business is the highest and most comprehensive. Under the new rules, performers and label producers will be able to demand compensation for damage in respective country’s market. In addition, the length of time TV programming contents can be protected by the copyright law has extended to 50 years from 20 years.
In addition to the entertainment industry, leisure and cosmetic industries are considered to be benefited by the change. In a situation where the number of outbound Chinese tourists is increasing at a rapid pace, Korean travel agencies being allowed to do legitimate business in China will be a huge boost to their business.
In contrast, the news that automobiles will be excluded from the tariff elimination discussion has hit hard automotive parts and components stocks as investors were disappointed with the prospect of Korean car makers gobbling up market share in the country of 1.3 billion population.
By Sean Chung (schung10@koreabizwire.com)
