China and South Korea have reignited their economic cooperation after years of relatively muted ties, signing US$44 million in new export deals and dozens of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in the wake of a high-level summit held amid shifting regional dynamics – most notably, a protracted diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.
South Korea hosted its first export promotion and investment attraction event in Beijing in nine years, according to its Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. The event, held on Tuesday, drew around 300 participants, including business leaders and investors from both countries.
Major Chinese tech firms such as Alibaba, JD.com and Tencent were there, along with representatives from provincial governments in Shandong and Liaoning.
The event featured one-on-one export consultations, investment briefings by South Korean regional governments and showcases of Korean consumer goods. As a result, 24 export contracts worth a combined US$44.11 million were signed, the ministry said.
The flurry of agreements follows South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s summit with President Xi Jinping on Monday.
The event was seen as a turning point in long-term efforts to mend bilateral ties, strained since Seoul’s 2017 deployment of the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system, which Beijing strongly opposed.
According to South Korea’s presidential office, the economic delegation accompanying Lee included 400 participants from 161 companies, including top executives from major conglomerates such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai and LG.
Further boosting bilateral goodwill, 32 MOUs between companies were signed on Monday, according to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Among the most notable was a deal between Alibaba and Shinsegae Group to promote high-end South Korean products via Alibaba’s platforms, with a goal of reaching annual transactions of over 1 trillion won (US$690.6 million) within five years. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.
Other agreements covered content development, future mobility technologies, robotics and the expansion of South Korean food and cosmetics exports. However, China’s unofficial boycott on Korean pop culture – in effect since the THAAD deployment in 2017 – was not addressed.
“The government will enhance support through cooperation with relevant agencies, including online and offline marketing initiatives and distribution network linkages, to help Korean companies create more business opportunities in the Chinese market,” said South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan in a statement.
The renewed momentum stands in contrast to the current freeze in China-Japan relations. Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have escalated since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi indicated in November that Japan might intervene in the event of a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
Most recently, China’s commerce ministry on Tuesday banned the export of products with both commercial and military applications to end users linked to the Japanese military.
And last week, the Japan-China Economic Association, the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced their annual visit to China would be postponed. The trip has been held nearly every year since 1975.-- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
