South Korean companies on Wednesday called for joint efforts by Seoul and Beijing to resolve ongoing trade dispute in the wake of the latter's apparent economic retaliation against the former's companies and goods.

In a seminar arranged by the Korea International Trade Association, exporters here called on the two governments to stick to free and fair trade principles and rule out "non-economic" factors in bilateral trade. 

"South Korea and China are in a strategic partnership for win-win trade synergies. They may have a different view or understanding on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea," KITA Chairman and CEO Kim In-ho said.

"But their economic ties should remain intact from any political and military reasons."

In July last year, South Korea and the United States agreed to deploy the THAAD system here by the end of 2017 to defend against evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

China has explicitly opposed the installation plan, arguing the powerful "X-band" radar that comes with the system could be used against it. Seoul and Washington have said the system is purely aimed at defending against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

As the allies plan to complete the THAAD deployment by as early as April, much earlier than originally scheduled, amid escalated provocations by the North, China has imposed economic sanctions on South Korean businesses operating in the neighboring country.

China has been South Korea's biggest export market since 2003, contributing big to growth in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.

The value of trade between the two countries reached a whopping $211.4 billion in 2016, compared to a mere $6 billion in 1992 when they established their diplomatic ties, according to KITA.

The bilateral free trade pact between China and South Korea took effect in 2015. South Korean companies invested a total of $4.75 billion in China in 2016, up 18 percent from a year earlier.

China's investment also jumped 141 percent year-over-year to $1.33 billion in South Korea in 2015, it said. (Yonhap)