By Ju Chuanjiang and Du Shu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-29 23:14

Qingdao, Shandong Province -- Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Myung-bak paid his first visit to Qingdao in east China's Shandong province on Thursday afternoon.

Jiang Yikang (R), General Secretary of the Communist Party of China's Shandong provincial committee, meets with visiting ROK President Lee Myung-bak in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, May 29, 2008. [chinadaily.com.cn]

Shandong Governor Jiang Daming welcomed Lee in Qingdao Liuting airport.

"President Lee's visit to Qingdao adds momentum to exchange and cooperation between both sides," Jiang Yikang, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China's Shandong provincial committee, made the remarks during his meeting with President Lee.

Shandong will further strengthen the cooperation with ROK in culture, tourism, economy and trade, and the exchange between local governments of both sides, Jiang added.

Lee said, "90 percent of Chinese migrants in ROK come from Shandong, and most of South Korean enterprises and migrants in China concentrate in Shandong."

"It plays an active role in boosting economic exchanges between the two sides, which will be further enhanced in the future," Lee said.

The statistics from ROK consulate in Qingdao shows that the city of Qingdao, home to 8000 South Korean small and medium enterprises, is a major investment destination of South Korean enterprises in China.

The South Korean emigrants in Qingdao are more than 100,000.

"ROK is the biggest trade partner of South Korea in Shandong Province," said Jiang.

According to the statistics from Shandong Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, in 2007, Shandong's import and export volume with ROK achieved $21.687 billion, accounting for 20 percent of the total trade volume.

By 2007, a total of 18,000 South Korean-invested-enterprises have been opened in Shandong with the investment amounting to $23.55 billion, accounting for 55 percent of South Korean total investment in China.

On May 30, Lee will visit Haier Group and South Korean enterprises in Qingdao.

Lee started his four-day China visit from Beijing on May 27.