Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo meets with Chinese Consul General Jin Yibiao.

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo met with Jin Yibiao, the Chinese Consul General in Busan, in the City Hall International Protocol Room on the morning of the 7th. This meeting was arranged to reaffirm the long-standing partnership between both sides and to secure cooperation momentum in key industries such as marine affairs and tourism amid rapidly changing international conditions.

Mayor Jeon emphasized that since Busan established a sister-city relationship with Shanghai in 1993, it has maintained close ties with six major cities in China, including Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Beijing, and Guangzhou. In particular, he expressed his determination to maximize synergies in the logistics and economic sectors based on the cooperation foundation built with maritime cities such as Ningbo and Qingdao.

Busan City is accelerating the development of tailored infrastructure to attract Chinese tourists, which is a key pillar for boosting the regional economy. The strategy is to convert the city brand awareness that has increased since major international cultural events were held in Busan into real visitor demand.

Mayor Jeon noted that Chinese tourists account for a very large share of Busan’s tourism market and promised to improve the tourism environment. The plan is to address language barriers and inconveniences with payment systems that visitors face, and to strengthen a variety of cultural experience content to encourage stay-oriented tourism.

Currently, Busan is home to many Chinese residents and international students, who are serving as a bridge for people-to-people diplomacy. Consul General Jin said that this solid human foundation is the force that supports cooperation between the two countries’ local governments, and proposed wider exchanges encompassing culture and education in the future.

With this meeting as an opportunity, both sides decided to keep a practical communication channel running on an ongoing basis. Busan City plans to work closely with the Chinese Consulate General in Busan to support business matching between companies and to identify specific cooperation agendas, such as technology exchanges in the marine industry.

Mayor Jeon assessed that exchanges between Busan and Chinese local governments will provide a foundation for expanding mutual understanding among citizens in both regions.

Business Korea Lee Kwang-soo (pr@businesskorea.co.kr)