YANGPYEONG — Yangpyeong County in Gyeonggi Province is stepping up economic and industrial exchange with its Chinese sister city to help local companies enter overseas markets.
The county said on the 23rd that it is visiting Zaozhuang and Qingdao in China's Shandong Province to broaden international exchange and open new sales channels for businesses based in the county.
Yangpyeong and Zaozhuang have maintained close cooperation since signing a sister-city agreement in 2011. In May last year, the two were jointly awarded an outstanding partner prize at an international friendship city cooperation and development conference held in Shandong Province, underscoring the trust between them. Through this visit, the county plans to extend ties beyond cultural and administrative exchange into business and industrial cooperation.
The two sides signed an agreement on the 23rd to deepen multi-sector cooperation, pledging to work together across economic, agricultural, cultural and tourism, education and youth sectors. The agreement includes practical steps to support local economies, such as exchanging trade and investment information, cooperating on agricultural technology and jointly promoting tourism resources.
Companies based in Yangpyeong are joining the trip to pursue the local market directly. They will hold one-on-one business meetings with Chinese buyers and promote products including traditional teas, health functional foods, baby foods and fruit juices at an exhibition of companies and specialty goods from Zaozhuang's international exchange cities on the 24th, gauging demand among buyers and the broader public.
The delegation also plans to tour drone, agricultural machinery and parts manufacturing sites in Zaozhuang to review the latest industry trends, and to visit major industrial facilities in Qingdao while exploring ways to expand exchange projects.
"Building on the trust accumulated with Zaozhuang over many years, we want to expand the scope of cooperation in earnest to companies and industry," Yangpyeong County Mayor Jeon Jin-seon said. "We will do our best to ensure this visit leads to tangible results, namely the successful entry of local companies into the Chinese market and a stronger local economy."