EU looks for trade with China, Korea

The European Union said it will seek bilateral trade deals with China and Korea, exploring new ways of conquering foreign markets as talks over a global trade pact flounder.

Negotiations over a broader World Trade Organisation accord were suspended in July as the EU and US accused each other of protecting their agricultural markets.

"We are now at a crucial point in time when we're considering how to develop regional trade agreements," European Commission President Jose Barroso told reporters in Helsinki after meetings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun.

China's €200 billion ($398 billion) trade relationship with the EU is weakened by disputes including European allegations that China is exporting cut-price shoes and failing to clamp down on the counterfeiting of brand-name products.

Wen, on his second visit to Europe in nine months, was rebuffed in his bid for the EU to recognise his country as a market economy. Such status could lead to lower duties on China in trade disputes with the EU.

"China and the European Union have enjoyed mutually beneficial economic ties and trade," Wen said. Greater trade "will benefit both sides".

The EU also stood by an embargo on weapons sales to China imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators.

- BLOOMBERG