S. Korea, China discuss stronger supply chain ties during ministerial talks

South Korea and China discussed ways Thursday of strengthening bilateral cooperation on supply chains of critical minerals and key industry items, Seoul's finance ministry said.

The discussions were made during the 18th Korea-China Meeting on Economic Cooperation held virtually between South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Zheng Shanjie, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

It was the first economic ministerial meeting between the two nations since August 2022.

"Now is the time to upgrade bilateral relations to a mutually beneficial partnership amid fast-changing global circumstances," Choi said in his opening remarks.

"The two nations should cooperate not only on supply chains of raw materials and critical minerals, such as urea, gallium and graphite, but also those for bio, clean energy and other new industries to jointly lead the global industry," he added.

The meeting came as South Korea has been working to intensely manage supplies of critical items and diversify their import channels in the wake of a series of disruptions in supplies of major items following export control measures by China in recent years and the intensifying Sino-US rivalry.

The South Korean government also called for beefing up bilateral cooperation in the gaming, filming and music industries and other cultural contents, and the establishment of a working-level consultative body to promote the tourism field.

On the table of Thursday's meeting was how to enhance bilateral relations on responses to climate change and the achievement of net-zero goals.

During the talks, Zheng invited Choi to China for further discussions on the bilateral economic cooperation, which Choi accepted, according to the ministry.

If the meeting takes place, it would be the first face-to-face economic ministerial meeting since 2018, when the then South Korean finance minister Kim Dong-yeon visited Beijing.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy and the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research renewed their memorandum of understanding that calls for information sharing, joint research projects and personnel exchanges to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, according to the ministry.