At the Korea-China summit held on Nov. in Gyeongju, the leaders of both countries pledged cooperation, and officials from research institutions in both countries gathered to discuss ways to strengthen industrial cooperation. Experts emphasized the importance of cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), a key pillar of both countries' growth strategies, and cooperation in materials, parts, and equipment centered on mid-sized companies.
The Beijing office of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) held an international seminar marking its 20th anniversary at 2 p.m. on the 11th (local time) at the Kempinski Hotel Beijing. The seminar began with opening remarks by Deputy Research Director Kim Cheon-gon, followed by a keynote speech and presentations and discussions on Korea-China industrial cooperation and the global supply chain.
Hu Yuanlong, associate research fellow at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in a keynote speech titled "China's AI+ push direction and Korea-China cooperation plans" that "the directions of Korea and China's AI industry development strategies are very similar, and both regard AI as a key driver of economic growth," stressing the need to strengthen synergy through cooperation.
Hu explained that the technological development paths of Korea and China are complementary. Korea has strengths in specific areas such as semiconductors and high-performance hardware, while China has advantages in general-purpose large models, commercial application capability, and broad diffusion capability. He assessed that "the foundation for cooperation in the two countries' AI industries is much greater than that for competition."
Hu identified five key areas for future AI industry cooperation: ▲ AI Semiconductor and high-performance hardware ▲ Autonomous Driving and smart mobility ▲ Digital Healthcare and medical technology ▲ Robotics and smart manufacturing ▲ Smart City and data governance.
He added, "The next five years will be the most important period in the AI industry," proposing policies such as ▲ establishing a high-level strategic body ▲ strengthening joint research and development (R&D) and standards cooperation in key areas ▲ building a new trust framework.
Recommendations also noted that Korea-China industrial cooperation has reached the right time and should not be missed. Lee Moon-hyung, former head of KIET's Beijing office and former professor in the Department of Global Commerce at Soongsil University, assessed that Korea-China cooperation has declined and competition has intensified due to the contraction of the Northeast Asia (mainland China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan) supply chain triggered by U.S.-driven protectionism and China's technological catch-up in traditional industries.
He continued, "However, the Korea-China summit in Nov. reaffirmed the 'Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership,' which had not been mentioned in the past five years, creating an opportunity to advance industrial cooperation. As the future development strategy goals of both countries have become more similar, Korea-China industrial cooperation has reached a turning point," emphasizing that the opportunity should not be missed.
He added, "Both countries have a high dependence on imports of materials, parts, and equipment from the United States, Japan, and Germany, sharing vulnerabilities in the global supply chain, so they should cooperate in this field," and said, "We need to identify mid-sized companies with high technological content as new actors for cooperation. Until now, cooperation between the two countries has been a physical combination. Now is the time for a chemical combination."