SEOUL - China and South Korea signed a free trade agreement (FTA) on Monday, the largest bilateral deal for China in terms of trade volume.

Under the deal, South Korea will eliminate tariffs on 92 per cent of all products from China within 20 years, while China will abolish tariffs on 91 per cent of all South Korean goods, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two countries started the FTA talks in May 2012, which covered 17 areas including trade in goods and services, investment and trade rules as well as e-commerce and government procurement. said the report.