South Korean business leaders met with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and some 50 Chinese businesspeople to discuss ways to boost cooperation in trade and business between the two countries in Seoul on Saturday.

Some 50 Korean top executives including Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo and LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo met with the vice premier on the sidelines of his three-day visit to Korea to promote tourism and commercial ties.

“The two countries have a mutual interest in expanding trade as Hyundai Motor Group and its contractors have successfully settled down in the Chinese market,” said Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo.

“Hyundai will pay more attention to further strengthening ties between Korea and China.”

Chung said the company’s plan to build two factories in Changzhou and Chongqing would contribute to the Chinese government’s regional development.

The vice premier pledged the Chinese government’s support of Hyundai and the Chinese auto industry.

Yang also promised to fully support LG Group’s business in China, showing interest in LG’s battery technology for electric vehicles.

“LG Group will actively participate in the Chinese government’s environmentally friendly policies and strengthen cooperation with Chinese enterprises,” LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo said.

Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo and Samsung SDI CEO Park Sang-jin also attended the business event with the Chinese vice premier.

Korean companies’ investment in China reached an eight-year high in 2014 amid their growing interest in the world’s second-largest economy following the conclusion of a bilateral free trade deal, according to data from the Beijing office of the Korea International Trade Association.

Korean firms invested a combined $3.97 billion in China last year, up 29.7 percent from the previous year.

The amount accounted for 3.3 percent of overall foreign direct investment in China, up from 2.6 percent a year earlier.

As of the end of last year, South Korean companies’ cumulative investment in China stood at $59.82 billion.

Foreign direct investment in China totaled $119.6 billion in 2014, up 1.7 percent from the previous year, according to the data.

KITA attributed the jump in Korean investment in China to growing expectations that the bilateral free trade agreement, signed in November last year, could help Korean companies tap deeper into the Chinese market.

By Park Han-na and news reports
(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)