By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-young

Incheon City Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok met with new Chinese Ambassador to Korea Dai Bing to congratulate him on his appointment on Feb. 9 and discussed ways to vitalize exchanges between Korean and Chinese local governments and ways to promote practical friendly cooperation.

Ambassador Dai Bing is an international affairs expert who served as Deputy Permanent Representative of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN). He took office as Chinese Ambassador to Korea on January 27.

He said, “Korea and China are our closest neighbors, and I hope that the two countries will work together to discover new growth engines and achieve substantive cooperation amid the current international and regional situations,” and “I hope Incheon City will serve as the focal point of exchanges between Korean and Chinese local governments.”

In response, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, “Incheon is the city with the most active exchanges with China in Korea through the Incheon-China Forum, the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and local economic cooperation projects.”

Yoo alos said, “As the Chairman of the Association of Governors of the Republic of Korea, I will work to ensure that local government exchanges between Korea and China, which have been somewhat stagnant since COVID-19, can quickly recover.” Mayor Yoo added, “I hope to continue to meet frequently in the future to discuss ways to develop Korea-China relations.”

Meanwhile, Incheon City and the Chinese Embassy in Korea have co-hosted the Incheon-China Forum since 2019 and have developed it into the highest-level China exchange and cooperation platform in Korea. They plan to continue various cooperation and communication, including the In-China Forum, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.