Premier Li Keqiang met with Republic of Korea representatives, who came to China to attend the first round of dialogues between business leaders and ex-governors from both countries, on June 29 in Beijing.
Former National Assembly Speaker of the ROK Chung Sye-kyun and business leaders from SK Holdings, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and other major ROK enterprises attended the meeting.
China and the ROK are important partners and neighbors, said the Premier.
He added that as the China-ROK relationship has maintained momentum of improvement and regional situations have begun to ease, the two countries face new opportunities in deepening cooperation.
Against the backdrop of rising protectionism, unilateralism and the idea of anti-globalization around the world, China and the ROK, two major economies in the region and the globe, should join hands to safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, Premier Li said.
He also expressed hopes that both sides will steadily promote negotiations on China-Japan-ROK free trade areas in line with the consensus reached during the recent China-Japan-ROK leaders’ meeting, to boost confidence and vitality in the economic growth of both countries, the region and the world.
Premier Li said China and the ROK have complementary advantages for development while their enterprises enjoy a solid foundation and broad prospects for cooperation.
According to the Premier, China will open wider to the outside world and intensify efforts to transform government functions, so as to further stimulate market vitality, optimize the business environment and treat domestic and foreign enterprises equally.
The Chinese government has attached great importance to intellectual property rights protection by introducing a slew of new initiatives, including lifting the statutory compensation limit for IPR infringements and strengthening law enforcement, he said.
As China pledges further opening-up and shifts to high-quality development, ROK enterprises are welcome to step up cooperation with China and increase investment in the country, especially in the central and western regions, said the Premier.
He also urged expanding cooperation in landmark electronics projects to jointly open up third-party markets to achieve win-win outcomes.
Representatives from the ROK said that the first round of dialogues achieved fruitful results and built a new cooperation platform for business circles from both sides.
The ROK business community has paid close attention to China’s innovation-driven development strategy and appreciated the Chinese government’s efforts on building a better business environment.
They are willing to seize opportunities generated by China’s economic restructuring, industrial upgrading and booming development of new economic drivers and new business models to further expand investment in and innovative cooperation with China, according to the representatives.
Efforts should also be made to carry out third-party market cooperation to push development of economic and trade relations between the two countries, enhance regional prosperity and stability, and contribute to safeguarding free trade.
