1. The 21st meeting of the Republic of Korea-China Joint Committee on Environmental Cooperation will take place in Seoul on November 23 to discuss ways to step up environmental cooperation on the bilateral and regional levels. The Joint Committee meeting will come in conjunction with the first director-general-level meeting on November 22 between the environment ministries of the two countries.

° The ROK and Chinese head delegates to the meeting are Director-General for Climate Change and Environmental Affairs Lee Hyung-jong of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation Song Xiazhi of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, respectively.

2. In the forthcoming meeting of the Joint Committee, the two countries will share with each other their respective environmental policies and seek ways to work together on relevant matters of mutual concern, including marine environment; the management of water quality; air pollution and yellow dust; environmental industry and technology; and agricultural and rural environment.

° The two sides will also exchange views on ways to step up environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia, including in accordance with the North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) and through the Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among the ROK, China and Japan (TEMM).

3. The ROK-China Joint Committee on Environmental Cooperation has convened in the two countries on an annual and rotational basis pursuant to the bilateral Agreement on Environmental Cooperation concluded in 1993 and been implementing cooperation projects on a wide range of environmental matters, including relevant technology and research on marine environment.


* unofficial translation