South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok meets with a group of Chinese businesspeople in Beijing on June 22, 2026. Photo: Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing's X account

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met with a group of Chinese businesspeople in Beijing on Monday, a move that reflects the high importance South Korean leaders attach to China-Republic of Korea economic cooperation under the new situation, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing said in a post on X.

Dai wrote the post in Chinese, Korean and English, sharing pictures of the event and noting that the symposium with Chinese entrepreneurs was Kim's "first activity" after arriving in Beijing.

On Tuesday, Dai also shared details of Kim's visit to Tsinghua University, writing that 20 years ago, when Kim was studying there, he said he wanted to better understand China by studying Chinese law and other related fields.

Dai also mentioned Kim's visit to the Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone Exhibition Center in Beijing, where Kim paid close attention to China's developments in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, high-end pharmaceuticals and embodied robotics.

"Both China and South Korea are technological powerhouses, and the potential for strong collaboration between the two sides is immense," Dai wrote. 

Kim will attend the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC), which is known as Summer Davos and is held in Dalian from June 23 to 25. Over 1,700 representatives from the political, business, academic and media communities from over 90 countries and regions will take part in the AMNC, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. 

According to a Korea JoongAng Daily report on Tuesday, during the gathering with Chinese businesspeople at the South Korean ambassador's residence in Beijing, Kim said the main reason he wanted to visit was to witness China's "remarkable economic development" with his own eyes.

"Korea and China are walking a firmer path [together] since the establishment of diplomatic ties, upon the foundation of a long history," Kim was quoted as saying, while asking the participants to share their success stories and plans for cooperation with South Korean firms.

It is Kim's first trip to China since taking office as the first prime minister of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung last year. In March, he had planned to visit China for the annual Boao Forum for Asia, but the trip was canceled as he had to deal with the effects of the conflict in the Middle East, according to South Korean media.

Kim is also the first Korean prime minister to attend the Summer Davos Forum in 10 years since then Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn did so in 2016. On the sidelines of the forum, Kim is expected to meet with officials and business leaders from other nations, Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

Global Times