The Shandong-South Korea Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Meeting was held on Nov 9 in Jinan, capital of Shandong, and Seoul, South Korea via online and offline channels.

Co-sponsored by the Shandong Provincial People's Government and the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the meeting was designed to promote mutual cooperation in logistics and green and low-carbon development.

Shandong officials attend the Shandong-South Korea Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Meeting on Nov 9. [Photo/Dazhong Daily]

Li Ganjie, Party chief of Shandong, had online talks with South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang, and Koo Ja-yeol, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

Li expressed hope that KITA will seize the new development opportunities in Shandong, further expand bilateral cooperation areas, participate in the Shandong Import Commodity Expo, and promote more South Korean enterprises' projects to settle in Shandong to achieve win-win development.

In his speech, Lee said that under the circumstances of rapid changes in the global trade environment and increasing uncertainties in the world economy, close communication and mutually beneficial cooperative relations between China and South Korea are more important than ever.

Shandong is a very important bridgehead in the economic cooperation between China and South Korea, and is the most active region in logistics cooperation with South Korea, which plays an important role in promoting the stability of the supply chain between the two countries, Lee said. Lee also expressed his hope that the two sides will further strengthen communication and deepen cooperation.

Official statistics indicate that in 2021, South Korea became Shandong's fourth largest trading partner and investment source, and the two-way trade volume exceeded one-ninth of that between China and South Korea.

In the first three quarters of this year, trade between Shandong and South Korea reached 206.1 billion yuan ($28.46 billion), up 6.8 percent year-on-year. The actual use of South Korean investment in Shandong hit $1.58 billion, up 251.1 percent.