Vice-President Xi Jinping yesterday called for talks with Seoul on a free trade deal that, if implemented, would double two-way trade by 2013.

If a pact is reached, it could leave the region's biggest economy, Japan, out in the cold. But the increasingly overlapping interests for economies of China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) make reaching a deal difficult.

"Reaching a free trade deal between China and South Korea (ROK) meets the interests of both countries," Xi was quoted as saying in a meeting with ROK President Lee Myung-bak.

"I hope that the two countries can work together and create the conditions to open official negotiations on a free trade agreement," he said.

The ROK and China have been jointly studying a trade deal for years but have been blocked by complaints from the politically powerful ROK farm lobby, who would face stiff competition from inexpensive Chinese goods.

China is the ROK's biggest export market and trading partner. Two-way trade of US$168 billion in 2008 is expected to double by 2013 if they implement a free trade deal, according to a joint feasibility study of a trade pact. The Chinese authorities have put the current trade volume at $180 billion last year.

ROK exports to China in November rose 54.7 percent from a year ago, the nation's finance ministry said earlier.

Seoul, which has depended heavily on exports to fuel growth, has struck major free trade pacts in recent years, ratifying a deal with India last month and signing another with the European Union in October. A deal with the United States, reached in 2007, has yet to be ratified.

Shen Shishun, a senior researcher at China Institute of International Studies, said China should not only push for a free trade pact with the ROK, but also eye a three-nation free trade zone covering Japan. The three countries account for about one-sixth of the global economy.

"The cooperation in Northeast Asian nations is lagging behind that of Southeast Asia, largely out of political reasons," he said. "China, Japan and ROK should seize the opportunity when the current Japanese ruling party is prone to Asia and is willing to forge a community in East Asia. We should start building the 'aircraft carrier' of the East Asian Community as soon as possible."

Huang Youfu, director of the Institute of Korean Studies at Beijing-based Central University for Nationalities, said the flood of cheap Chinese agricultural products is a concern for Tokyo and Seoul if a free trade pact is struck with Beijing.

"But the issue can be resolved by granting subsidies to the farmers. If they block out themselves, the two nations will forever be restricted by their limited land and resources."

Xi yesterday also called for efforts to quickly resume stalled denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. He arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night after concluding his visit to Japan. He will head for Myanmar and Cambodia later.

ROK media said yesterday the treatment Xi received there proves Japan is not the only country that holds ties with Beijing in high regard.

Japan's ruling party shouldered huge domestic pressure and even risked falling popularity rates when it insisted on a meeting between Xi and Japanese Emperor Akihito, which broke a palace protocol for short notice.

And in Seoul, Lee Myung-bak squeezed his tight schedule to have breakfast with Xi yesterday before immediately boarding a flight for Copenhagen.