Seoul Attracts $50 Million Investment in Shanghai and Hangzhou

MOU Signed with Bio Investment Firm Highlight Capital
Collaboration with Leading Chinese Investment Bank CICC in Fintech and More
"Accelerating Strategic Industry Investment... Positioning Seoul as an Investment Hub"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has attracted investments totaling 50 million dollars after meeting with investment firms in the finance, bio, and robotics sectors in Shanghai and Hangzhou, China.

On December 10, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it had carried out investment attraction activities targeting major local investment institutions and high-tech companies in Shanghai and Hangzhou since December 8.

On the 9th local time, Joo Yongtae, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Economic Office (left), and Steve Wang, CEO, are holding the agreement document and posing for a commemorative photo at the Seoul Metropolitan Government-Highlight Capital Investment Attraction MOU Signing Ceremony. Seoul Metropolitan Government

On December 9, Joo Yongtae, Director of the Economic Office of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, met with Steve Wang, CEO of Highlight Capital, and others at the Highlight Capital headquarters in Shanghai and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for investment and the establishment of a Seoul branch office. Highlight Capital, established in 2014, is a global investment company specializing in bio and healthcare, managing assets worth 3.8 billion dollars (approximately 5 trillion won). The firm has invested in more than 150 bio and healthcare companies worldwide, including Korean companies such as Meditip and Cellak Bio.

Highlight Capital has agreed to invest a total of 50 million dollars (approximately 72 billion won) in Seoul-based bio and healthcare companies over the next five years and to establish a Seoul branch at the Seoul International Finance Office. The city plans to support Highlight Capital by providing office space for its Seoul branch, facilitating networking with Seoul-based financial institutions and investors, and arranging consultations with Seoul's bio and artificial intelligence (AI) companies.

On the same day, Director Joo also met with Wang Hanpeng, Vice President of CICC International, in Shanghai and signed an MOU to foster the fintech and digital finance industries in Seoul.

CICC has agreed to support the scaling up of Seoul's fintech companies, job creation, and the development of the digital finance ecosystem, as well as to cooperate in expanding exchanges between Seoul-based companies and Chinese financial institutions and investors. If CICC enters the Seoul market, the city will assist in building networks with fintech companies and financial institutions. As the first Sino-foreign joint venture investment bank in China, CICC has led the internationalization of China's financial market in investment banking, asset management, and investment management. Its operating profit in the first half of this year reached 12.8 billion yuan (2.6666 trillion won).

After completing its visit to Shanghai, the Seoul delegation traveled to Hangzhou to meet with advanced companies such as Alibaba Group (an e-commerce company), Ant Group (a fintech company), and Unitree Robotics (a robotics manufacturer). Through this visit, the city aimed to understand local trends in the robotics industry and AI technology, and plans to reflect these insights in the creation of a Suseo robotics cluster, support for robotics research and development (R&D), and the promotion of cooperation between companies in Seoul and China.

Furthermore, leveraging the networks established during this business trip, the city plans to work with the Seoul Investment Promotion Agency to strengthen a full-cycle investment support system for foreign companies entering Seoul, including market research, corporate establishment, and regulatory resolution, by concretizing additional cooperation structures with strategic business investors and high-tech companies.

Steve Wang, CEO of Highlight Capital, stated, "Highlight Capital views Seoul as a hub where companies with advanced medical technology and research and development capabilities are concentrated, and as a strategic investment base. Going forward, we will not only directly invest in these companies, but also support Seoul's innovative companies to grow more rapidly in overseas markets through our collaborative network of more than 150 global bio companies in which our headquarters has already invested."

Director Joo said, "Through this business trip to China, we will further expand cooperation with global companies and provide close support throughout the entire investment process together with the Seoul Investment Promotion Agency, so that global companies can use Seoul as a strategic investment base."

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