China and the Republic of Korea concluded substantive negotiations on a free trade agreement on Monday, a step closer to reducing trade barriers between the two nations and boosting integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

President Xi Jinping and his ROK counterpart Park Geun-hye confirmed the conclusion of the talks at a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Beijing.

The deal, which the two leaders pledged to finalize before the end of this year, will cover 17 areas including trade in goods and services, investment and trade rules, and topics such as e-commerce and government purchasing, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.