It is the first time to visit a Korean factory in China after coming to power.
Biden’s move to build a US-centered supply chain
Saying good things about Korea-China relations and emphasizing friendship
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the LG Display plant located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. This is the first time President Xi has visited a Korean company site in China, and it is interpreted as a move to emphasize the importance of supply chain cooperation between Korea and China.
According to the People’s Daily on the 13th, President Xi visited LG Display and the R&D center of Aion, an electric vehicle brand under the Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), on the previous day. President Xi visited Guangdong Province on the 7th to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and has been inspecting the site since the 10th. The People’s Daily explained that “President Xi grasped the situation of opening up to the outside world, developing high-quality manufacturing, promoting technological innovation in enterprises, and developing their own brands.”
It is known that President Xi visited the LG Display Guangzhou plant, listened to an hour-long introduction about the business from LG Display’s Chinese subsidiary, and toured the production line. President Xi did not mention investment on this day, but it is said that he made a good remark about Korea-China relations.
LG Display’s Guangzhou plant has a total area of 700,000 square meters and mainly produces liquid crystal display (LCD) and organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels. In July 2020, mass production of OLED panels for 8.5G TVs began. This plant is LG Display’s main overseas production base and is one of the largest foreign-invested companies in Guangzhou. For LG Display, the Guangzhou plant is the most important global production base along with the production plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
The business world sees President Xi’s surprise visit as sending a message that Korea is an important partner in checking US President Joe Biden’s establishment of a US-centered supply chain. The US is alienating China from the global supply chain system by enacting the Semiconductor Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) one after another.
China is taking hard-line measures, such as considering banning the export of rare-earth magnet manufacturing technology, which is a material for electric vehicles. However, there is an analysis that China has no choice but to maintain relations with Korea, which has a key position in semiconductors, batteries, and displays.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.