Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee on Sunday that China welcomes further investment from the Korean conglomerate, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua. This comes as foreign businesses in the Chinese market face challenges due to geopolitical uncertainties.
The meeting in Seoul between China’s second-highest-ranking official and the Korean executive occurred ahead of a summit involving Li, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida—the first three-way talks among the Asian neighbors in over four years.
Samsung Electronics has invested $24 billion in the Chinese market over the past six years, according to a company executive quoted in a November report by state-run China Daily. However, the Korean tech giant has encountered increasing difficulties amid U.S.-China tensions, navigating export controls imposed by Washington to restrict China’s access to advanced chips.
Li’s meeting with the Samsung executive mirrored earlier comments made during a bilateral meeting with Yoon, where he encouraged more Korean companies to invest in China and called for cooperation between Beijing and Seoul to maintain the stability of industrial supply chains.
