Last month, ROK National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik traveled to China to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War. Later in the same month, ROK Foreign Minister Cho Hyun made his first visit to China in his current capacity.

In recent months, Chinese officials have made clear on various occasions that both nations should strengthen joint research and development, and explore more cooperation in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, green development, high-end manufacturing, biomedicine and digital economy.

Wang Junsheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy, said deepening economic and trade cooperation is one of the priorities set out by the current ROK administration for its engagement with China.