BEIJING - China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have initialed their free trade agreement (FTA), the end of FTA negotiations, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Wednesday in a brief statement on its website.

China and the ROK began FTA talks in May 2012. President Xi Jinping and his ROK counterpart Park Geun-hye confirmed in Beijing last November a substantive conclusion in negotiations.

The agreement will cover 17 areas, including trade in goods and services, investment and trade rules, and topics such as e-commerce and government procurement.

The MOC said in November last year that the agreement will be signed in 2015 and take effect in the second half of the year.