KOTRA Expands Cooperation in China's Yangtze River Delta with '2700 Trillion' Investment... Opens Shanghai Trade Office

30th Anniversary of Korea-China Diplomatic Relations
Throughout July... Themes: Consumer Goods, Supply Chain, Future Cars

KOTRA held the '2022 Korea-China Economic Cooperation Plaza' to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations and the 60th anniversary of KOTRA's founding. On the 1st, attendees participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the event's opening. From left to right: Lee Hyunjin, CEO of Korea Tourism Organization Shanghai Branch; Baek Ingi, Director of KOTRA Shanghai Trade Center; Kim Seungho, Consul General in Shanghai; Kim Mansu, Co-CEO of E-Land Investment Corporation; Kim Junho, CEO of Jonginara Shanghai. (Photo by KOTRA)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] KOTRA announced on the 5th that it will hold the '2022 Korea-China Economic Cooperation Plaza' throughout July in Shanghai, the largest economic zone in China, the Yangtze River Delta, which is worth 3,000 trillion won in Korean currency. This ambitious economic cooperation event was prepared to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations and the 60th anniversary of KOTRA's founding. It is part of a series of bilateral economic cooperation projects being promoted across China, including Beijing (North China), Shanghai (East China), Guangzhou (South China), Chengdu (West China), and Dalian (Northeast China).

KOTRA Shanghai Trade Center will provide opportunities for economic exchange projects both online and offline for a month. Specifically, it consists of three events: a consumer goods promotion and consultation fair, a seminar on supply chain inspection for companies entering the market, and a future car forum. The Yangtze River Delta economic zone in China, where the event is held, includes one municipality and three provinces including Shanghai. According to Chinese customs statistics, the total import and export volume was about 14 trillion yuan (approximately 2,714 trillion won) last year. This accounts for 36.1% of China's total import and export volume of 39 trillion yuan (approximately 7,560 trillion won). KOTRA explained, "It is significant that the largest Korean business event was held first after the lockdown in Shanghai, where the economy and society had come to a halt due to the spread of COVID-19 and city lockdowns from March to May."

The consumer goods promotion fair is held from the 30th of last month to the 6th at all stores of Pax New Core (Tianshan branch) in downtown Shanghai. Pax New Core is a lifestyle mall jointly created by E-Land Group and China's Baixing Group. This event is jointly organized by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, the Korea Tourism Organization Shanghai branch, and E-Land. About 100 Korean brands were exhibited and sold through the KOTRA excellent small and medium-sized enterprises promotion hall, large and small business win-win cooperation hall, and K-Beauty hall. Along with the Korea tourism promotion hall, promotional exhibitions and Korea-China cultural exchange CSR activities were held to support the bid for the '2030 Busan World Expo.' On the 12th, the '2022 Shanghai K-Lifestyle' event will be held both online and offline. About 100 companies are expected to participate in this event, which is held again this year following last year. One-on-one business export consultations and Korea-China private brand product exchange meetings will be held. It plans to support the entry of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises into the Chinese market in the mid to long term.

The supply chain seminar will also be held from the 12th. KOTRA decided to hold a seminar to resolve difficulties and support management stabilization for Korean companies that have entered the East China region. The seminar will be conducted together with the Shanghai government and local related organizations. In the post-COVID-19 era, it will focus on discussing strategies for Korean companies to enter China and urgent supply chain inspections. Detailed topics include checking economic trends in the East China region, ways to utilize corporate support measures for Shanghai's economic recovery, import and export logistics trends in the Yangtze River Delta region, restructuring the East Asian value chain using the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and movements to protect Korea-China intellectual property rights (IP).

Also, the future car forum, held from the 12th until the end of the month, will discuss the current status and prospects of Korea-China future cars and analyze China's future automobile supply chain. One-on-one pinpoint consultations and networking exchanges in the hydrogen and electric vehicle sectors will also be held. Opinions will be shared on win-win cooperation between Korean automobile companies and Chinese companies in the increasingly competitive future car industry.

Shanghai is China's largest economic consumption city. It is also the number one city in sales of new energy vehicles such as hydrogen vehicles as a single region. In the first quarter, 54,097 new energy vehicles were sold. Tesla entered Shanghai in 2019 and produced 480,000 units last year alone. This accounts for 51.7% of Tesla's global production volume. Other major areas within the Yangtze River Delta, such as Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province, serve as bases for parts procurement and production. The automobile supply chain in China is systematically established. Many Korean automobile-related companies have entered regions such as Shanghai, Yancheng in Jiangsu Province, and Zhangjiagang together with their partners.

Hong Changpyo, head of KOTRA's China Regional Headquarters, said, "After the Shanghai lockdown, which affected the world, we prepared customized projects to urgently inspect the local supply chain and revitalize economic exchanges between Korea and East China, which were stagnated due to COVID-19." He added, "Through projects covering various fields from consumer goods and future cars to supply chain issues, we plan to contribute to the activation of business between Korea and China."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.