1. Mr. Liu Jiayi, Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, who visited the Republic of Korea (ROK) as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ invitation project for influential figures of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha on Monday, December 2, from 17:00 to 17:30, and attended the luncheon held at the invitation of Vice Minister Cho Sei-young from 12:30 to 14:00 on Tuesday, December 3. During the meeting and the luncheon, the two sides exchanged views on ways to increase cooperation between the ROK and Shandong province.

2. Minister Kang and Vice Minister Cho welcomed that exchanges between the ROK and Shandong province, including Secretary Liu’s visit to the ROK, are actively in progress this year.

3. At the meeting with Secretary Liu, Minister Kang expressed hope that his visit to the ROK would serve as an opportunity for the Shandong provincial government to create a better environment for Korean businesspeople, paving the way to further promote exchanges between businesspeople as well as people-to-people exchanges between the two countries through cultural exchanges.

○ Minister Kang expressed hope that as Shandong province is pushing for industrial restructuring while seeking to expand economic cooperation with the ROK mainly in a new Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Shandong province, the ROK and the Shandong provincial government would broaden the scope of cooperation to new industries such as renewable energy, information technology (IT) and medical care.

- Furthermore, Minister Kang hoped that exchanges and cooperation between the provincial governments of the two countries would serve as a driving force for advancing relations between the ROK and the PRC. She added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will actively help promote close exchanges and cooperation between provincial governments of the two countries.

○ Secretary Liu explained that Shandong province is pushing for economic development and economic opening to foreign countries by means of its economic transition from the old system to a new one. He voiced hope that as there is a large room for bilateral exchanges and cooperation, the two sides would establish a new cooperation system on the basis of pre-existing resources and cooperation.

- The two sides agreed on the importance of deepening exchanges between provincial cities of the two countries and suggested improving bilateral communication in all areas such as exchanges and cooperation between the provincial cities, mutual development strategies, infrastructure, trade and investment.

4. At the luncheon, Vice Minister Cho noted that bilateral cooperation is entering a new phase by reflecting a changing trend and economic development trends in both countries, and added that areas of cooperation are extending to new industries such as medical and healthcare.

○ As a new Severance hospital in Qingdao under construction as a joint project demonstrates a good symbol of the new future of bilateral cooperation between the ROK and the PRC, Vice Minister Cho asked for the Shandong provincial government’s active cooperation and support for its successful opening.

○ Secretary Liu mentioned that Shandong province would further deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in a range of fields on the basis of outcomes of existing achievements of cooperation with the ROK, including medical and healthcare.

5. Recognizing that strengthening cooperation with Chinese provincial governments, including Shandong province, contributes to boosting the ROK- PRC relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to actively help reinforce exchanges between the provincial governments of the two countries as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the ROK and the PRC by revitalizing future exchanges and cooperation with many provincial cities in China.