Consumer goods, content, and game corporations from Korea and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 5th (local time) to cooperate on bringing Korean products into the Chinese market. The MOU was signed at the Korea-China business forum held in Beijing on the occasion of President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to China.
By sector, four MOUs were signed among consumer goods corporations. In addition, three MOUs were signed among content corporations, including K-pop, drama, and games, and two MOUs were concluded related to new industries.
Shinsegae signed an MOU with Alibaba International, a major Chinese retail corporation. The cooperation will involve exporting domestic products sourced by Shinsegae through China's Alibaba platforms. The two companies already formed a joint venture in September last year and are collaborating on business by making Gmarket, an e-commerce affiliate of Shinsegae, a subsidiary.
Fish cake manufacturer Samjin Eomuk decided to operate its stores in China through its Chinese partner, Samjin Aimore Co., Ltd. (三進愛陌客有限公司). Farmstaff, a smart-farm startup that began as an in-house venture at ISU Chemical, plans to partner with Chinese logistics company Zhonghuan Yida (中環易達) to produce and distribute Korean strawberry varieties at Chinese smart farms. Domestic pharmaceutical company PharmaResearch will produce the skin regeneration product MTS (Micro-needle Therapy System) in China with Chinese pharmaceutical company Guangdong Biomedical and export it overseas.
In the content field, Seobuk Co., Ltd., which operates the self-photo studio "Photoism," agreed to jointly pursue a content business utilizing K-pop artists' IP (intellectual property) with Beijing Aitou Culture Media Co., Ltd., which operates the Chinese fandom platform Yizhiyu (一直娱, Withfans).
HelloWorks, a domestic video production company, plans to co-produce short-form content, variety shows, films, and drama with Chinese content producer KREON. Rootthree, which created the idle role-playing game (RPG) "Raising Demicat," agreed to cooperate with Chinese game distributor Boundary Singularity Technology to bring Korean-made games into China.
MOUs were also signed between Korean and Chinese corporations in Autonomous Driving and eco-friendly fields. SWM, which is piloting robot taxis in Seoul's Gangnam area, plans to jointly develop a high-performance computing platform with Chinese IT corporation Lenovo for the commercialization of Level 4 Autonomous Driving. Level 4 Autonomous Driving leaves driving to the vehicle without driver intervention. Korea remains at Level 3. Geoseong Industry, a domestic power plant equipment manufacturer, will build a $150,000 nano-materials plant in both countries with Chinese nano-materials corporation BF Nanotech. Through this, they plan to enter eco-friendly markets in third countries.
Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said, "We hope to see expanded participation by our corporations in China's vast domestic markets for consumer goods, content, and supply chains," adding, "Together with relevant agencies such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KORCHAM) and KOTRA, we will work closely with the Chinese government and institutions to actively support our corporations."