South Korean officials said Monday that South Korea and China have agreed to build maritime logistics centers to boost bilateral trade and exchanges, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

According to a memorandum of understanding singed on Sunday, the two nations agreed to open a logistics center in South Korea's western port city of Incheon and another in China's northeastern city of Qingdao.

The logistics centers will be jointly operated and they are tasked with dealing with storage and shipment of products being traded between the two cities, Yonhap quoted South Korean officials as saying.

The South Korean government said it will invest around 20 billion won (20.96 million U.S. dollars) in building the center in Incheon on a site of 105,600 square meters by next year, while the Chinese government aims to open its own by 2008, Yonhap said.

The port city of Incheon, 40 km west of Seoul, is located at the western seashore of the Korean Peninsula towards China and is making efforts to develop itself into a regional logistics hub.

Source: Xinhua