Korea, China trade talks focus on supply chains and Saemangeum

South Korean and Chinese trade officials held working-level talks in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, agreeing to keep supply chains for key industrial inputs stable and to deepen cooperation through their joint industrial parks, the industry ministry said Tuesday.

Bae Jun-hyung, director-general for trade cooperation at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Wang Liping, head of the Chinese commerce ministry's Asian affairs bureau, led the fourth Korea-China supply chain hotline meeting and the sixth working-level meeting on the bilateral industrial cooperation parks. The two sides met as bilateral trade continues to grow this year, with January-to-August two-way trade reaching 263.1 billion dollars, up 51.3 percent from a year earlier, while Korea's exports to China rose to 117.7 billion dollars, up 42.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Korean officials used the meetings to ask Beijing for continued attention and cooperation so that companies can bring in key items from China smoothly, and the two sides discussed ways to create a predictable business environment for Korean firms operating in China. They agreed to keep the hotline as a standing channel for reviewing supply trends for major items, meeting regularly and consulting quickly when issues arise.

Launched after a first meeting in Seoul in December 2023, the hotline has been held annually since, with the two sides tracking supply conditions for export-controlled items as well as urea and wiring harnesses.

On the industrial parks, the two sides said cooperation on investment in Saemangeum is gathering pace, following a November summit in Gyeongju and a memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation between the parks signed in January in the presence of the two countries' leaders. In September a delegation of about 20 Chinese companies visited Saemangeum to inspect the investment environment, and at this working-level meeting the two sides focused on how to improve conditions for firms to actually set up and invest.

They discussed sharing support programs and incentives offered by the Saemangeum and Huizhou parks and expanding convenience for companies entering their counterpart's park. Both sides also took up ways to improve access to logistics infrastructure and make investment procedures easier.

"Korea-China supply chains are directly connected to our companies' production and exports, so managing them stably at ordinary times is important," Bae said, adding that the two sides will continue follow-up consultations with China so that cooperation centered on Saemangeum delivers results that companies can feel.

The parks were designated in October 2015 under the bilateral free trade agreement, with Saemangeum on the Korean side and Yantai in Shandong Province, Yancheng in Jiangsu Province and Huizhou in Guangdong Province on the Chinese side.

Looking ahead to next year, the two sides plan to keep developing new investment demand, including sending another Chinese investment survey delegation, and to build the parks into practical hubs connecting the two countries' companies.