Dalian strengthens ties with South Korea

Kang Sung Seok, representative of the Consular Office of South Korea in Dalian, met with Gao Yugang, chairman of the Dalian China-Japan-South Korea Exchange Association June 20 to discuss strengthening non-government cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Gao said that Dalian, a major city and port in the northeastern Liaoning province, is an important window for economic and cultural exchanges between China and South Korea. The city’s import and export volume to South Korea has reached 45.77 billion yuan ($7.04 billion) so far this year. It is in partnerships with seven South Korean cities, including Incheon, Busan and Gwangyang. 

Kang expressed his approval, noting that it was due to the important role Dalian has played in the China-South Korea relationship that the country decided to establish a consular office in the city in 2012.

At present, there are about 8,000 South Koreans living in the city. The number of South Korea-invested firms in Dalian had grown to 2,833 between 1985 and 2017, with total investment of $7.69 billion.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance approved plans to build the China-Japan-South Korea Circular Economy Demonstration Base at Dalian Recycling Industry Economic Zone in June 2015.

To ensure the smooth progress of the construction, the government of Dalian also signed cooperation agreements with the governments of Incheon and Pohang.