Chinese President Xi Jinping met President Lee Jae-myung, who is on a state visit to China, and expressed a desire to boost South Korea-China economic exchanges. Xi directly mentioned exchanges in emerging industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) as well as people-to-people ties and exchanges in youth, media, and sports, and said the two countries should deliver results in cooperation.
According to a report by state-run China Central Television (CCTV), Xi said at a summit with the president in the afternoon, "The current international situation is growing more chaotic and intertwined. China and South Korea bear important responsibilities in safeguarding regional peace and promoting global development and have a broad intersection of interests."
Xi said, "As friends and neighbors, China and South Korea should travel more frequently, maintain regular exchanges, and communicate closely. China has always placed relations with South Korea in an important position in its diplomacy and has maintained continuity and stability in its policy toward South Korea," adding, "China hopes, together with South Korea, to uphold the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, advance the strategic cooperative partnership along a healthy track, genuinely improve the well-being of the two peoples, and contribute positive energy to peace and development in the region and the world."
On economic exchanges, he said, "The two countries have advanced together beyond differences in social systems and ideologies. The two should respect each other's choice of development path, take into account each other's core interests and major concerns, and properly resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation," adding, "The two economies are closely connected, and industrial and supply chains are deeply intertwined, and cooperation is mutually beneficial. We should strengthen alignment of development strategies and policy coordination to enlarge the pie of common interests."
He went on to say, "We should produce more cooperative outcomes in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), green industries, and the silver economy," and emphasized, "We should boost people-to-people exchanges and expand exchanges in youth, media, sports, think tanks, and localities so that a positive narrative becomes the mainstream of public opinion."
On historical issues, Xi said, "We should stand on the right side of history and make the right strategic choices," adding, "More than 80 years ago, China and South Korea won a victory against Japanese militarism at great national sacrifice. Today, we should all the more join hands to safeguard the outcomes of the victory in World War II and protect peace and stability in Northeast Asia."
After the summit, the president and Xi signed 14 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and held a state banquet.