On the afternoon of June 28, 2016, Premier Li Keqiang held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn of the Republic of Korea (ROK), who was in China to attend the 2016 Summer Davos Forum.

Li Keqiang expressed that China and the ROK are close neighbours and strategic cooperative partners. Attaching great importance to developing relations with the ROK, China is willing to, together with the ROK, enhance political mutual trust, maintain high-level exchanges, boost practical cooperation, and invigorate people-to-people and cultural exchanges, so as to promote bilateral relations to continuously maintain healthy and stable development and benefit the people of the two countries as well as the region.

Li Keqiang pointed out that during my visit to the ROK last year, both sides reached consensus on the docking of four pairs of development strategies, namely, between China's "Belt and Road" initiative and ROK's "Eurasia Initiative", between "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" and ROK's "Creative Economy" strategy, between "Made in China 2025" and ROK's "Manufacturing Innovation 3.0", and carrying out international production capacity cooperation in third-party markets. At present, relevant achievements are being actively implemented. It is hoped that both sides could make joint efforts to further deepen the construction of free trade zones, promote cooperation in joint research, innovation and entrepreneurship, accelerate the construction of China-ROK innovation and entrepreneurship park in Chengdu, and expand high-end industrial chain cooperation in such major industries as automobile, robot, tablet display, new materials, and information communication. The two countries should enhance financial connectivity, support the development of cross-border e-commerce, boost cooperation in cultural industries, and take the "2016 ROK Tourism Year" as an opportunity to open a new era of "10 million plus" for personnel exchanges between the two countries.

Li Keqiang stressed that maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia exerts important significance for the region and the world. China is willing to work with all relevant parties, including the ROK, to devote themselves to realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and regional development and prosperity. China and the ROK should respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and strengthen communication and consultation, so as to well maintain China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership and the overall situation of bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation.

Hwang Kyo-ahn expressed that ROK-China relations have yielded great development over the past three-plus years with enhanced political mutual trust, frequent high-level exchanges, close strategic communication, alignment of the four pairs of development strategies, Free Trade Agreement coming into force and expanded people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Attaching great importance to ROK-China relations, the ROK is willing to take the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year as an opportunity to strengthen innovation cooperation and bring bilateral strategic cooperative partnership to a new high. The ROK is ready to maintain the general situation of bilateral relations and strengthen strategic communication with China, so as to jointly safeguard peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

Both sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Wan Gang attended the talks.