The 2026 China (Jiangsu)-Republic of Korea Friendship Week kicked off in Nanjing on May 18. Liu Xiaotao, Governor of Jiangsu Province, attended the opening ceremony and met with Noh Jae-heon, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to China.

Events of the friendship week will be successively held in Nanjing and Yancheng, including China-ROK Youth Dialogue, Jiangsu-ROK Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange, China-ROK enterprise B2B business negotiations and ROK commodity exhibition. Ma Shiguang, Vice Governor of Jiangsu, and Ambassador Noh Jae-heon delivered speeches at the ceremony. Lee Hyuk-joon, President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in China, gave congratulatory remarks. Distinguished guests jointly launched the event.

Liu Xiaotao extended a warm welcome to Ambassador Noh Jae-heon and representatives of ROK business associations and enterprises. He stated that Jiangsu boasts solid foundations and broad prospects for cooperation with the ROK. Jiangsu stands ready to implement important consensus reached by heads of state of the two countries. Taking this friendship week as an opportunity, the province will further strengthen coordination in key industries, enhance connectivity and expand exchanges and interactions. South Korean enterprises are welcome to expand business presence in Jiangsu and launch more new technologies and projects. Joint efforts will be made to elevate mutual benefit and contribute to the development of China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership.

Ambassador Noh Jae-heon remarked that as an economically robust province, Jiangsu serves as a vital trading partner of the ROK. He hoped to take the friendship week as a new starting point, fully leverage platforms such as China-ROK (Yancheng) Industrial Park to upgrade bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Both sides will advance industrial chain upgrading in automobiles, semiconductors and new energy batteries, scale up cultural, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, and achieve high-level win-win cooperation.

Li Zhongjun, Mayor of Nanjing, Zhao Jianjun, Secretary-General of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, officials from provincial authorities, as well as representatives of ROK diplomatic missions, economic and trade institutions and enterprises attended the activities.