Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk (eighth from right) and Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing (ninth from right) pose for a photo with local business representatives at a business roundtable held Thursday at Ulsan City Hall. [Ulsan City]
Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk (eighth from right) and Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing (ninth from right) pose for a photo with local business representatives at a business roundtable held Thursday at Ulsan City Hall. [Ulsan City]

Ulsan, South Korea's largest industrial city, is moving to strengthen cooperation with China's advanced manufacturing cities in future high-tech industries, including smart manufacturing.

Mayor Kim Sang-uk met Thursday morning with a 10-member Chinese delegation — led by Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing and Consul General Chen Ribiao of the Chinese Consulate General in Busan — at the city hall reception room to discuss ways to expand economic and industrial cooperation.

Ulsan City Council Speaker Lee Yeong-hae and Deputy Speakers Hong Seong-u and Son Geun-ho also attended the meeting.

The visit marks the first official trip to Ulsan by a Chinese ambassador to South Korea in 12 years, since former ambassador Qiu Guohong's visit in 2014. It came after Kim, while still mayor-elect, met with Ambassador Dai on June 11 and secured a commitment for the visit.

At that June 11 meeting, Dai said he hoped Ulsan — as an important industrial and port city in South Korea — would contribute to the country's economic transformation and the further development of South Korea-China relations.

Kim outlined the future high-tech industries Ulsan is pursuing — AI transformation, smart manufacturing, future mobility and the hydrogen economy — and asked the Chinese Embassy to support cooperation between Ulsan and China's advanced manufacturing cities.

Kim also noted that six of Ulsan's overseas sister and friendship cities are Chinese — Changchun, Wuxi, Yantai, Qingdao, Henan Province and Guangzhou — the largest share of any single country.

Later Thursday morning, the Chinese delegation joined local business representatives at a roundtable on trade between Ulsan companies and China, held at the city hall conference room.

Executives from six Ulsan companies — Kemp (electroplating and surface treatment), MTG (adhesives for shipbuilding and metal surface protective coatings), Jinkotech (water-based high-corrosion-resistant anti-rust coatings), Suchang TPS (packaging plastics), Mobil Korea Lubricants (lubricants) and Whale City (fermented beverages) — called for measures to boost trade with China.

After the roundtable, the delegation is scheduled to tour Taehwagang National Garden's bamboo grove, Taehwaru pavilion and Daewangam Rock before visiting Hyundai Motor Company's new electric vehicle factory in Ulsan and SK Group's Ulsan Complex.

A city official said the full restoration of South Korea-China relations — agreed upon by the two countries' leaders earlier this year — must translate into tangible results at industrial sites like Ulsan. "We will work to ensure this visit not only strengthens trade in our core industries but also serves as an opportunity to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese local governments and companies in future high-tech sectors such as AI and smart manufacturing," the official said.


cityblue@heraldcorp.com