Chongqing - As China–South Korea relations improve, cooperation in western China is entering a new phase, with the 8th Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) set for May 21–24 in Chongqing and South Korea’s Gyeonggi-do named the guest city of honor for the first time.
China-South Korea economic and trade cooperation has maintained steady growth. China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, while South Korea remains China’s second-largest trading partner. According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, bilateral trade in goods reached 331.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.
Improving bilateral relations has supported stronger economic ties. In January 2026, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung made his first state visit to China since taking office. According to CMG News, Lee said the trip aimed to ease misunderstandings, advance South Korea-China relations, and build a partnership that supports shared development.
Lee traveled with an economic and trade delegation of about 200 members, signaling South Korea’s push for deeper cooperation with China. He said China had matched or surpassed South Korea in many areas of technology and capital, so bilateral economic cooperation had moved beyond the old model of “South Korean technology and capital plus Chinese labor” toward more equal, horizontal collaboration.
South Korean investment gains ground in western China
SK Hynix’s Chongqing facility is the company’s largest semiconductor packaging and testing base overseas. (Photo/SK Hynix)
As the guest city of honor, South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province will host a China–South Korea (Chongqing–Gyeonggi) economic and industrial cooperation promotion event at the WCIFIT, a key platform for diplomacy, trade, and investment in western China.
Located in South Korea’s central-western capital region and surrounding Seoul, Gyeonggi-do is the country’s most populous local government. It is also a major global hub for advanced industries such as semiconductors and electronics, and is home to leading companies including Samsung, SK Hynix and LG.
The program will focus on economic and trade exchanges between Chongqing and Gyeonggi-do through industrial and investment promotion, matchmaking, negotiations and site visits. Organizers will also unveil the China-South Korea Economic Friendship and Cooperation Center.
South Korean enterprises have expanded in western China for more than two decades, increasing investment and diversifying into electronics, semiconductors, biomedicine, auto manufacturing and modern services in cities such as Chongqing, Xi’an and Chengdu.
For instance, in Xi’an, Samsung invested about 2.5 billion yuan (approx. 368.39 million U.S. dollars), in its semiconductor plant in 2025, up 67.5% year on year. The company used the funds to upgrade NAND flash lines from 128 to 236 layers and plans to mass-produce 280-layer products in 2026 to meet rising demand from AI servers and data centers. The Xi’an plant now accounts for about 40% of Samsung’s global NAND flash capacity.
In Chongqing, SK Hynix operates its largest overseas packaging and testing base. The facility serves as the group’s core back-end production platform in China and handles packaging, testing and module manufacturing for DRAM, NAND Flash and other products. Its annual output accounts for more than 40% of SK Hynix’s total memory chip packaging and testing capacity.
The global memory chip market is currently facing its most severe supply shortage in 15 years. A Goldman Sachs research report said that in 2026, global supply-demand gaps for DRAM, NAND flash and HBM would reach 4.9%, 4.2% and 5.1%, respectively, all the highest levels since 2011. The shortages are mainly driven by surging demand for AI servers.
Memory chips underpin AI computing and data processing. DRAM handles temporary data, NAND flash stores data long term, and HBM supports high-speed AI workloads.
As a major global semiconductor power, South Korea has seen its leading companies' performance closely reflect this market trend. SK Hynix’s operating profit rose 405% year on year in 2026 Q1. Samsung reported record quarterly revenue and operating profit, with operating profit increasing 7.6 times from a year earlier.
Chongqing’s historic and cultural ties with South Korea endure
The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea Memorial Hall is located in Chongqing Yuzhong District. (Photo/Luo Huxin)
Beyond economic and industrial cooperation, Chongqing shares deep historical ties with South Korea that span more than a century.
After Japan annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1910, Korean independence activists fled to China and founded the Korean Provisional Government (KPG) in Shanghai. After 1937, the KPG moved westward to Chongqing, where it opened offices, formed the Korean Liberation Army and led the independence movement until Japan surrendered in 1945, after which it returned to Korea.
On May 13, Bridging News saw several South Korean tourists at the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea Memorial Hall in Chongqing, a popular destination for South Korean visitors. The site has also been visited by South Korean political figures, including Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae-myung.
One visitor, Mrs. Lim, said she came to Chongqing with her husband to visit his parents. Her husband, a Chongqing native, works at Samsung. She said they visited the museum after their son saw an exhibition in South Korea about the aircraft that carried provisional government staff back to Korea and wanted to learn more about that history.
Lim said Chongqing had become much more modern since her previous visit, with convenient metro services and a cleaner urban environment. “Compared with cities in eastern China, Chongqing is more affordable. As a mountain city, it has beautiful natural scenery. The food is delicious, and the night views are especially impressive,” she said.
South Korean tourists visited the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea Memorial Hall on May 13. (Photo/Luo Huxin)
Another South Korean tourist, Mr. Sang, said he came to Chongqing for travel and visited the memorial hall after discovering it by chance. He decided to visit in order to learn more about that history and deepen his understanding of Chongqing’s past. “Koreans can adapt well to life here. Apart from the language barrier, the culture, food and lifestyle are easy to get used to,” he said.