Kang Kyungsung Presides Over China Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting
Emergency Task Force for Export and Investment Launched... Monitoring Key Issues
Kang Kyung-sung, President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), revealed a strategic plan to find opportunity factors for companies despite the rapidly changing trade environment in China due to the US-China competition.
On the 11th, at the China Regional Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting held at the Beijing Trade Center, Kang stated, "China is facing rough waves in the global trade environment, and since the scope of change is large, many derivative opportunities will arise," adding, "Our companies must strive to seize these opportunities."
Kang Kyung-sung, President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and others are taking a commemorative photo at the China Regional Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting held at the Beijing Trade Center on the 11th. Photo by KOTRA
President Kang organized this meeting to closely review current trade and supply chain issues in China with the China regional headquarters and 21 Greater China trade center heads, and to seek new plans for export and investment expansion in response to the rapidly changing trade environment following the inauguration of the new US administration.
Although China’s economy is expected to slow due to US restrictions, it continues to demonstrate technological innovation competitiveness in advanced industries. Despite the intensifying technological and industrial competition between the US and China, capturing arising opportunities and targeting niche markets is analyzed to be the breakthrough for Korea-China exports.
KOTRA explained that since January this year, it has been operating an emergency export and investment task force, concentrating company-wide capabilities on monitoring trade issues and supply chains and discovering opportunities. Especially, since the Chinese market has a significant impact on Korea, KOTRA plans to continue its export-plus approach toward China by strengthening the global economic and trade cooperation desk functions and discovering new business export and investment opportunities.
KOTRA intends to proactively detect supply chain issues through cooperation among the economic and trade cooperation desks in Beijing, Washington, Brussels, and Tokyo, and operate a hotline between headquarters to continuously resolve difficulties faced by companies entering the market. President Kang emphasized, "Since it is the early days of the Trump administration, we must be highly alert, strengthen responses to trade issues, and enhance on-site supply chain information detection to improve the responsiveness of our government and companies."
Kang Kyung-sung, President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), is presiding over the China Regional Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting held at the Beijing Trade Office in China on the 11th. Photo by KOTRA
If the US sanctions on China’s advanced industries take effect, there are concerns about impacts on Korea’s major export items to China. KOTRA plans to devote full efforts to discovering new export engines and business investment opportunities.
By sector, KOTRA plans to seek new export solutions through cooperation with China’s version of small and medium-sized specialized enterprises, Jeonjeongteoksin (專精特新), in materials, parts, and equipment, and in the consumer goods sector, to break through by targeting new export items and distribution channels through a "niche market strategy" based on understanding the consumption patterns of China’s main consumer groups.
China’s provinces have economic power comparable to that of European countries, and major companies and cultures differ. President Kang pointed out this fact and diagnosed, "By thoroughly analyzing the newly formed new consumption demand centered on China’s first- to third-tier cities and establishing specialized marketing strategies, we can seize greater opportunities than expected."
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