Korea-Japan-China CEOs Agree on Need for Economic Cooperation... "Expect Economic Revitalization and Supply Chain Stability"

Key business leaders from Korea, Japan, and China share a consensus on the necessity of economic cooperation among the three countries. In particular, Korean and Japanese businesspeople have high expectations for economic revitalization through economic cooperation, while Chinese businesspeople have strong expectations for supply chain stability.

Korea-Japan-China Business Summit. Photo by Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry

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According to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on the 9th, a survey was conducted on the perception of economic cooperation among the three countries targeting 181 top executives (CEOs) from major companies of the three countries who attended the '8th Korea-Japan-China Business Summit' held on the 27th of last month. Among the 136 respondents, all answered that economic cooperation among the three countries is necessary (82.4% said absolutely necessary, 17.6% said somewhat necessary).

However, the proportion of respondents who said economic cooperation is absolutely necessary varied by country: China 91.3%, Korea 84.8%, and Japan 70.5%, showing differences by country. Chinese CEOs were found to feel the necessity most actively.

All respondents expected that expanding economic cooperation among the three countries would have a positive impact on corporate management (65.4% strongly agree, 34.6% agree). The proportion of 'strongly agree' responses was highest among Chinese CEOs at 67.4%, followed by Korea at 65.2%, and Japan at 63.6%, indicating the highest expectations from the Chinese side.

Major company CEOs cited economic revitalization (47.8%), supply chain stability (41.2%), alleviation of low birthrate and aging population issues (5.9%), and expansion of joint ventures in fourth countries (5.1%) as the expected benefits of economic cooperation among the three countries. By country, Korean and Japanese businesspeople most expected economic revitalization (Korea 84.8%, Japan 54.5%), while Chinese businesspeople mostly expected supply chain stability (84.8%).

Businesspeople identified priority areas for economic cooperation among the three countries as climate change response (33.8%), financial and monetary cooperation (19.9%), medical cooperation and aging population response (19.1%), digital cooperation (16.9%), and disaster and safety response (10.3%), in that order.

Korea selected financial and monetary cooperation (26.1%) as the top priority area, Japan chose climate change response (54.5%), and China prioritized medical cooperation and aging population response (30.4%) as the areas to be advanced first.

To revitalize economic cooperation, efforts such as expanding communication and exchanges at the private sector level (52.9%), strengthening diplomatic cooperation at the government level (25.0%), expanding technology exchanges including joint research and development (R&D) (15.5%), and expanding joint projects in fourth countries (6.6%) were deemed necessary.

In particular, all three countries commonly considered expanding communication and exchanges at the private sector level as the most necessary (Korea 52.2%, Japan 68.2%, China 39.1%).

Park Il-jun, Executive Vice Chairman of KCCI, stated, "It has been confirmed that the major CEOs of the three countries have a consensus close to certainty regarding the necessity and positive effects of economic cooperation." He added, "Going forward, KCCI plans to form a private-sector economic cooperation working group among the three countries and carry out joint research projects to implement the priority tasks and expected effects identified in this survey."

Earlier, on the 27th of last month, KCCI jointly held the '8th Korea-Japan-China Business Summit' at the Chamber of Commerce building with the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). Businesspeople from Korea, Japan, and China supported the '9th Korea-Japan-China Summit' and issued a joint statement to implement the discussions presented at the Business Summit. The joint statement included a pledge by the economic sectors of the three countries to actively cooperate for economic revitalization and sustainable development, as well as plans to establish a private-sector economic cooperation working group among the three countries.

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