Chinese premier meets with ROK president

BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Jae-myung in Beijing on Tuesday.

Noting the bilateral relations have taken on a new look under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, Li said that China has always placed its relations with the ROK at an important position in its neighborhood diplomacy. He also noted that the country is willing to work with the ROK to uphold good-neighborliness and friendship, enhance strategic communication, consolidate political mutual trust, seek common ground while reserving differences, and promote the continuous development of bilateral relations along the right track and better benefit the two peoples.

Li pointed out that China and the ROK are important economic and trade partners to each other, and over the past 30-plus years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, China and the ROK have achieved fruitful cooperation results and effectively promoted common development.

Noting that the two countries have close economic ties and deeply interwoven industrial and supply chains, Li said the two sides should abandon the zero-sum mindset and provide more certainty for each other's development through strengthened cooperation.

China is willing to promote cooperation with the ROK in emerging fields such as high-end manufacturing, artificial intelligence and new energy, deepen industrial integration and synergy, and jointly cultivate new drivers of development, Li said. He also said China welcomes enterprises from the ROK to expand their investment in China and expressed the hope that the ROK side will offer greater convenience for Chinese enterprises to invest in the ROK.

China and the ROK should work together to uphold multilateralism and free trade, and safeguard international fairness and justice, to contribute to the promotion of peace, stability and development in the region and the wider world, Li added.

For his part, Lee said that the ROK attaches great importance to its relations with China, and is willing to respect each other's core interests, enhance bilateral dialogue and exchanges, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields such as economy and trade.

The ROK side actively encourages its enterprises to expand cooperation with China and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in the ROK. The ROK is willing to enhance multilateral communication and coordination with China, jointly safeguard free trade, and promote regional and international peace and stability, said Lee.