On January 5th, the China Korea Business Forum, jointly hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was held in Beijing, focusing on new opportunities for pragmatic cooperation and new prospects for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. About 400 politicians and business people engaged in in-depth discussions on "improving manufacturing efficiency through AI," "creating a digital barrier free environment," and "providing integrated travel services. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, China and South Korea, as important neighbors and economic and trade partners, have continuously demonstrated resilience in their economic and trade cooperation. Data shows that China has been South Korea's largest trading partner for 21 consecutive years, and the trade volume between the two countries has remained above 300 billion US dollars for many years. In the first 11 months of 2025, imports and exports between China and South Korea amounted to 298.895 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%. Attendees expressed that the achievements of China South Korea cooperation are already of great significance, and what is even more valuable is that in the context of increasing global economic uncertainty, the two countries have always adhered to the principle of mutual trust and mutual benefit to continuously promote cooperation, becoming a valuable asset of China South Korea relations. At the beginning of 2026, hundreds of business representatives gathered here amidst busy official duties, fully demonstrating the high expectations of the business community for economic cooperation between South Korea and China. ”Choi Tae won, President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of SK Group, said that this will bring more tangible benefits to the two peoples and inject stronger momentum into mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. In recent years, while the trade volume between the two countries has steadily increased, the economic cooperation relationship has also undergone structural adjustments. Today's cooperation between China and South Korea should achieve complementary advantages through industrial innovation and stable supply chains, and jointly explore new opportunities in their respective markets. Chinese business representatives generally believe that while consolidating cooperation in traditional fields, China and South Korea need to further explore the potential for cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, and green industries, enhance trade and investment linkage, and promote the upgrading of cooperation quality. Personnel exchanges are the foundation of communication and cooperation between countries. In November 2024 and September 2025, both China and South Korea implemented visa facilitation measures, resulting in a significant increase in mutual travel between the two countries. Currently, there are over 1000 regular flights between the two countries every week. Driven by this, recent youth exchanges between the two countries have become increasingly active: Seoul cultural tours and Korean style beauty experiences have become popular travel destinations for Chinese young people, while "flying to Shanghai after work on Fridays" has formed a new trend among Korean young people. Deepening exchanges and promoting people to people connectivity are very important. ”Kim Sung jin, the director of the China Regional Center of the Korea Tourism Corporation, stated that whether it is further developing duty-free shop resources or enhancing cooperation between beauty and medical services, these go beyond the general tourism scope and become opportunities for close experience of each other's services and culture. They can also extend to manufacturing and consumer goods investment, opening up new cooperation spaces for the life service industry. This is a rare opportunity for us to talk about friendship, discuss cooperation, and seek common development. ”Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), stated that CCPIT is willing to build a high-quality platform for cooperation between the Chinese and South Korean business communities, provide comprehensive services, promote the healthy and stable development of economic relations between China and South Korea, better benefit the two countries and their peoples, and jointly create a new situation of win-win cooperation. (New Society)