Korea-China Reach First Agreement on Supply Chain Cooperation... Economic Ministers' Meeting Held After 2 Years

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The Korea-China Economic Ministers' Meeting, which had been suspended due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, was held again after two years.

At this meeting, both Korea and China agreed for the first time to strengthen supply chain cooperation. They also plan to promote economic cooperation by expanding exchanges on carbon neutrality policies.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 27th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho held the 17th Korea-China Economic Ministers' Meeting via video conference with He Lifeng, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission. This was about 1 year and 11 months since October 2020.

First, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for strengthening supply chain cooperation for the first time and agreed to establish a director-general level coordination consultative body to discuss supply chain issues in the future.

Through this, the government aims to secure a discussion channel in case of supply chain instability and further strengthen policy communication between the two sides.

An MOU to strengthen practical cooperation in the economic sector was also signed.

The government plans to enhance exchanges not only between governments but also among companies, local cities, and research institutes, and to jointly hold the "Korea-China Economic Cooperation Exchange Meeting" annually, including participation from the private sector.

In addition, through the MOU on key projects for joint entry into third countries, cooperation will be strengthened for five projects currently jointly undertaken by companies from both countries.

Korea and China agreed to expand policy exchanges to achieve carbon neutrality goals.

They plan to extend policy cooperation, which had focused on fine dust, to the eco-friendly low-carbon development sector and continue cooperation in climate and environmental fields in the international community.

Furthermore, the two countries will share experiences related to the development of cultural and other service industries and strengthen exchanges and cooperation such as cultural industry symposiums.

In particular, the Korean government emphasized the importance of development in cultural fields such as games, video, broadcasting, and content. The Chinese side proposed cooperation with Korea in lifestyle service sectors such as health and elderly care.

Based on these contents, the Korea-China Economic Ministers' Meeting agreed on a memorandum of understanding.

The chief representatives of both sides commemorated the 30th anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations, evaluated the growth and development of economic exchanges so far, and agreed on revitalizing the economic cooperation relationship, which had stagnated due to COVID-19 and other factors, under the existing mutual respect framework between the two countries.

Both sides evaluated that this meeting, held after about two years, has great significance in opening the way for substantive economic cooperation dialogue.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo proposed, "Based on the 30 years of growth and development between Korea and China, let us normalize exchanges that had stagnated due to past events such as COVID-19 in response to the rapidly changing international environment and jointly face the current global uncertainties."

Along with this, he also requested the Chinese government's support for Busan City's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

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