Seoul  - As the presidents of China and South Korea agreed to develop a strategic partnership, hope re-emerged in Seoul that China might be the next major partner after the United States and European Union with which South Korea would discuss a free trade deal.

South Korean President President Lee Myung Bak touted such a pact as a spark for Asia's economy.

"If South Korea signs a free trade deal with China, it would be a new driver for North-East Asia's economy," Lee said at a business luncheon in Beijing Wednesday.

He and Chinese President Hu Jintao promised in talks in Beijing Tuesday to expand trade and investment ties and consider the launch of free trade negotiations.

After South Korea started trade talks with Washington and Brussels in the past two years, China has been mentioned as a seeker of a free trade deal with its major trading partner.

"Although it is hard to say when the free trade talks would start with China, China has been more active [than South Korea when it comes to free trade talks]," presidential spokesman Lee Dong Gwan told reporters this week.

A free trade deal was forecast to commercially benefit both China and South Korea. The Korea Institute of Ecnomic Policy, state-run think tank, forecast a pact would lead to at least a 2-per-cent boost in South Korea's gross domestic product and 0.5-per-cent for China.

Korean carmakers and home electronics makers were forecast to gain the most if a deal is signed. Korean farmers, however, were expected to be hard hit because a free trade agreement was forecast to lead to a surge of Chinese farm products entering South Korea.

Its effect on farmers has been a major reason for South Korea to remain reluctant for a deal with China.

"The government should try hard to get a grassroots consensus before it starts talks with China," said Jung In Gyo, professor at Inha University.

A survey found that at least among South Korean firms doing business in China, support for a free trade agreement was strong. Seventy-four per cent of 390 companies surveyed by the Korea International Trade Association responded favourably.

China has replaced the United States as South Korea's largest trading partner with South Korea's exports there in 2007 representing 22 per cent of its total at 81.9 billion US dollars. (dpa)