According to the WeChat official account of the Chinese Embassy in South Korea on May 23, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing attended a symposium organized by the Korea-China Economic Association on May 22 and delivered a speech. Yoo Jung-soon, President of the Korea-China Economic Association, Koo No-sung, Secretary-General, member enterprises of the association, Counselor Wang Zhilin of the Chinese Embassy, and about 50 others were present. Ambassador Dai Bing introduced the current economic situation in China and expressed his views on the international situation, the current state and future direction of Sino-Korean cooperation. The content is as follows:
Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, Dai Bing's WeChat Official Account of the Chinese Embassy in South Korea
The world today is intertwined with changes and chaos. Trump 2.0 has brought great uncertainty to the entire world, impacting the global economy, and Sino-Korean trade has also been affected. How to respond to external risks, enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and South Korea, and maintain the stability and smoothness of industrial and supply chains has become a common challenge we face. Here, I would like to share some opinions.
Firstly, the Chinese economy demonstrates strong resilience and will continue to play an engine role in the world economy. China is a super-large-scale economy and has maintained steady growth in recent years. In 2024, the GDP reached $18.95 trillion, growing by 5%; in the first quarter of this year, it grew by 5.4%, ranking among the top in major economies, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. China will take measures to vigorously boost consumption, intensify industrial upgrading and technological innovation, promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade, and continuously stimulate and unleash potential and momentum. We are fully confident in achieving a growth target of around 5% for the whole year.
The spillover effect of the Chinese economy is significant. Over the past decade, China's contribution rate to world economic growth has exceeded 30%, and it is currently the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions in the world. China will continue to expand its opening-up policy and remain a "stabilizer" and "source of power" for the world economy.
The Central Surrounding Countries Work Conference held in April emphasized that China will adhere to the concepts of good neighborliness, peace, prosperity, sincerity, benevolence, harmony, and common destiny, deepen development integration with neighboring countries, jointly maintain regional stability, and create a better future. At the meeting in March, President Xi Jinping met with international business representatives including Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Guo Lu-zheng, President of SK Hynix, and released a strong signal of China's reform and opening-up and the coexistence and integration of the interests of foreign-invested enterprises in China. As President Xi Jinping said, China has been, is now, and will always be an ideal, safe, and effective investment destination for foreign businesses, investing in China means investing in the future.
Secondly, jointly oppose trade protectionism and resist external uncertainties with regional cooperation stability
In the face of the tariff sticks constantly raised by the United States, China's position is clear, which is to oppose unilateralism and trade protectionism. The U.S. actions violate WTO rules and undermine the free trade system. China firmly takes countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests, uphold international fairness and justice, and objectively win space for other countries, including South Korea, to resolve trade disputes with the U.S. through consultations. The substantial results achieved in the recent China-U.S. economic and trade talks meet the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and are consistent with the expectations of the international community. This talk has taken an important step toward resolving differences, but there remains a possibility that the U.S. may again implement unilateral hegemony and instigate a trade war. China will be prepared and firmly counteract any actions that harm its interests.
Both China and South Korea are supporters and beneficiaries of free trade and economic globalization and are also victims of what the U.S. calls "reciprocal tariffs." Both sides should jointly oppose trade protectionism and work together to advance regional and multilateral cooperation. The APEC Trade Ministers' Meeting held recently in Jeju emphasized the multilateral trading system and stated that they would "strengthen regional cooperation, accelerate the negotiation of free trade agreements, and address the current uncertainty in the global economic environment," which reflects the common voice of the international community. The joint statement issued at the China-Japan-South Korea and ASEAN 10+3 Finance Ministers and Governors' Meeting held in Italy at the beginning of May sent out a message to "strengthen regional solidarity and cooperation and strive to cope with the increasingly severe uncertainties." Yesterday, the China-ASEAN Economic and Trade Minister Special Meeting was held, and both sides jointly announced the full completion of the third phase negotiations of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. This result has important practical significance. China is willing to work with South Korea to continue playing a positive role in deepening regional and multilateral cooperation and jointly respond to external risks.
Thirdly, re-recognize and re-launch Sino-Korean relations to push bilateral economic and trade cooperation to new heights.
China and South Korea are inseparable neighbors and even high-quality cooperative partners who benefit from mutual benefits. In 2024, bilateral trade reached $328.08 billion, growing by 5.6%. China has been South Korea's largest trading partner for 21 consecutive years, and South Korea has returned to China's second-largest trading partner. In particular, the two countries' industrial and supply chains are deeply integrated, jointly shaping a cooperative pattern and a community of shared destiny characterized by "you are in me, and I am in you." In recent years, competition between the two countries' industries has increased somewhat, but the strategic and mutually beneficial nature of their cooperation has not changed. The internal and external environments of each country have undergone profound changes compared to when diplomatic relations were established over 30 years ago, and both sides need to re-recognize and re-launch their relationship.
Firstly, objectively and rationally view the Chinese market. South Korean companies operating in China should overcome two one-sided perceptions. One is still thinking of making quick money or profiting from hot money in China like 20 or 30 years ago; such situations no longer exist. Another perception is that China's industrial upgrading is too rapid, and South Korean companies lack competitiveness, wanting to exit the Chinese market, which does not align with the Koreans' character of not giving up easily. In fact, the continuous expansion of openness and high-quality economic development in China has led to consumption upgrades and industrial upgrades, bringing broader cooperation opportunities for foreign companies. If South Korean companies can take root in China, they will be more capable of excelling globally; losing the Chinese market means they cannot talk about having a global strategy.
Secondly, jointly explore new areas of cooperation. Both sides should base themselves on their respective comparative advantages and continuously uncover new growth points. They can strengthen joint research and development, actively explore cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, green development, high-end manufacturing, biomedicine, low-altitude economy, and digital economy, and achieve higher-level mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
Thirdly, jointly maintain the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains. China and South Korea are mutually dependent and have mutual needs in terms of maintaining stable industrial and supply chains. Both sides should actively promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, properly address emerging issues; at the same time, they should fully recognize the risks of "decoupling and chain breaking," resist the politicization and securityization of economic issues, handle tariff negotiation issues with the U.S. based on their own interests, and maintain the free trade system and international fairness and justice.
Fourthly, promote new progress in the second phase negotiations of the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. The signing of the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement has contributed historically to promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Now, both sides are advancing the second phase negotiations mainly focusing on investment and services. It is hoped that these negotiations will make progress soon, assisting in pushing bilateral economic and trade cooperation to new heights.
In the 33 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, including all of you, South Korean entrepreneurs have made positive contributions to the economic development of both countries while achieving their own development. We welcome South Korean entrepreneurs to view Sino-Korean cooperation with a longer-term and more global perspective. Since its establishment, the Korea-China Economic Association has always been committed to promoting friendly relations between the two countries, enhancing exchanges and mutual learning between enterprises, and making positive contributions to deepening civilian exchanges and local cooperation between China and South Korea. It is hoped that the association will continue to play a leading role and act as a bridge for more South Korean enterprises to conduct pragmatic cooperation with China and share the opportunities of high-quality development in China. The Chinese Embassy in South Korea is willing to work with the Korea-China Economic Association to fully assist and support South Korean enterprises in taking root and developing in China and achieving greater success.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7507482321969283603/
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