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| Forum emphasizes China investment |
| News Archive - Industry Headline - September news | |
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(Koreaherald, Sep 22, 2006)The United States may be the Korean government's priority for securing a free trade deal over China, but for corporate Korea, investing in China is also a priority that needs to be seized. Reflecting the importance of emerging China, Chinese entrepreneurs and economists offered their views and insights into doing business with Koreans; and Korean companies doing business in their country. Li Zhengmao, vice president of China Unicom, a state-owned telecommunication operator, highlighted that his company's strategic partnership with Seoul-based SK Telecom is complementary.
Experts from Korea and China attend an economic forum co-organized by the two governments at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in eastern Seoul yesterday as part of the "Experience China in Seoul 2006" event. [SK Group] "We will aggressively draw up measures that will help advance both companies," said Li. "We will help spread the unique know-how of SK's CDMA mobile network business and see its name win popularity (in China), while we will cooperate to tap foreign markets and develop the ideal profit model," he added. China Unicom was established in July 1994 by the Ministries of Electronic Industry, of Electric Power and of Railways and approved by the State Council. It started as a wireless paging and GSM mobile operator. It now provides a wider range of services including a CDMA mobile network, long-distance, local calling, data communication, Internet services and IP telephony. SK Group, which specializes in telecommunications and energy, is sponsoring the Experience China event. "Unless we succeed in China, we cannot do well in other markets such as America and Japan. The successful advance into China is necessary to establish a position as a leading global company," SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently said. He hopes SK operations will become as fully involved in the mainland market as the domestic companies. Li Jiaxiang, president of Air China Group, stressed the importance of Korea as a business partner. "We celebrate the 10th anniversary of our business alliance with Asiana Airlines today and it is a happy day. We believe we will be expanding our partnership to other areas," Li said. He noted that the cooperative spirit will help both companies plan more convenient air travel routes linking both countries, while boosting each of their air freight businesses. Zhang Yuanlong, vice president of China Minmentals Group, underlined that Korea has long been and still is a "huge" market with latent potential. "We will continue to expand our economic partnership with Korea, and this will include building an export market for raw materials, steel and metal," Zhang said, adding that his company plans to strengthen strategic partnerships with Korean conglomerates. Asia's third-largest economy will also be a target for new Chinese exports, which include aluminum and rare-earth elements. But issues of China's currency rate have been posing as a challenge to Korean exporters' earnings abroad. A stronger won and a weaker yuan has made Korea lose price competitiveness overseas against cheaper Chinese products. China's central bank has allowed the yuan to fluctuate 0.3 percent on either side of a daily fixing rate against the U.S. dollar. U.S. lawmakers have been blaming an artificially weak yuan for the deluge of Chinese imports that drove last year's trade deficit with China to a record $206.6 billion. Ping Xinpiao, a professor of Beijing University, noted the China's central bank could control investment appetite by having a direct influence on the supply and demand of the domestic currency market by raising interest rates. In addition to favorable investment conditions, experts emphasized the importance of localization and understanding the local market to building a prosperous business in the mainland. "In managing their human resources, Korean companies in China are facing some challenges in showing the ability to help their employees take an interest in the local culture and localizing them," said Piao Jianyi, executive director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. ( )
Source:The Korea Herald |
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