Chinese investors pin hopes at Seoul China Investment Week

Unlike worries here over a possible Chinese economic retaliation on Korean businesses over a defense issue, Chinese venture capitalists wish to see more active business cooperation between the two countries, market insiders said at the inaugural Seoul China Investment Week in Seoul on Tuesday.

David Chen, a 10-year veteran venture capitalist and co-founder of Shanghai-based AngelVest venture capital firm, said Korea has “interesting assets” to attract more overseas investors.

“There are various types of local companies spanning from the technology and biotechnology industry to the media and entertainment industry with strong potential,” Chen told The Korea Herald.

“While both Korea and China should look into a long-term relationship, beyond temporal blips in bilateral ties, Korean companies which continue to sharpen their own competitiveness and make them unique will be able to create opportunities,” Chen added.

Pan Wen, 37, senior consultant of OBOR Investment Co., who flew from Hong Kong to participate in the event, said he is willing to invest in Korea’s information technology companies.

“While many are expecting PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Chinese investment firms, including myself, are also interested in real estate and construction equipment,” Pan said.

“Active economic cooperation between China and Korea will be the powerful way to recover the current bilateral ties between the two countries,” he added.

Tuesday’s one-on-one counseling session, held as part of the two-day China Week program organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, was attended by some 300 participants from 148 local companies and 56 Chinese venture capitals, who settled down at tables, shared portfolios and asked questions on their future business goals.

Kim Min-ho, 32, director at Korean IT and finance consulting group Yello Financial Group, said it had been difficult for startups to individually meet overseas investment firms.

“While we have to normally spend a lot of time arranging meetings with overseas investors, (an event like a one-on-one counseling session) is a great opportunity for startups like us, which enables us to gain opportunities in the Chinese market in a much easier and faster way,” said Kim.

“We will more actively find Chinese capital which can support us to finance our business model, while I also believe succeeding in our business also means promoting Korea’s resources and technology scene,” Kim added.

In a bid to attract Chinese investment into the city-run businesses, the Seoul municipal government gave a presentation that introduced the city’s projects, such as the Digital Media City, a high-tech complex for digital technology firms, networked offices and cultural centers located in northern Seoul.

Huang De, top executive of Bank of China‘s Seoul branch, said in a speech that, “sustained economic development of the two countries can create a wide range of market development and investment opportunities.”

“As Seoul city has led many Korean enterprises to cooperate with Chinese enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, promoting bilateral economic and trade exchanges will lead to both countries’ win-win development,” said Huang.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)