GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — South Korea and China agreed Saturday to expand cooperation across trade, finance and emerging industries, as President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first summit in Gyeongju, marking a reset in bilateral ties strained by geopolitical tension and supply chain realignment.
During the 97-minute summit held at the Gyeongju National Museum, the two leaders witnessed the signing of seven memorandums of understanding on areas ranging from new trade frameworks to financial stability measures.
Key agreements included a won-yuan currency swap renewal between the Bank of Korea and the People’s Bank of China — part of what Seoul described as efforts to “translate the leaders’ shared vision for practical, people-centered cooperation into concrete outcomes.”
According to the presidential office, the won-yuan currency swap carries a five-year term and a value of 70 trillion won ($49 billion).
"It is expected to contribute to the stability of the two countries’ financial and foreign exchange markets and help promote trade," it said in a statement.
The presidential office added that the two sides also exchanged documents for six additional agreements aimed at setting a long-term direction for cooperation. These include the 2026-2030 Joint Economic Cooperation Plan, designed to guide mutually beneficial collaboration, and an MOU on enhancing services trade to accelerate progress in the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Agreements were also signed to promote cooperation in the"silver economy" — economic activity concerning the over-50s — and startup innovation, facilitate the export of Korean agricultural products to China, and strengthen joint responses to voice phishing and online fraud.
“These agreements set a long-term direction for advancing mutually beneficial cooperation and establishing a stronger institutional foundation for trade and investment,” the office said.
Lee said the two economies were moving from “a vertical division of labor” toward “a horizontal and mutually beneficial partnership,” adding that the evolving structure of supply chains called for a “new model of cooperation” suited to an era of industrial transformation.
China remains Korea’s largest trading partner, accounting for roughly one-fifth of total exports.
Yet bilateral trade has slowed in recent years amid weakening demand and technology restrictions driven by global geopolitical shifts.
Xi’s visit, his first state trip to Korea in 11 years, comes as both nations seek to reposition themselves amid shifting global production networks.
