Xi invites South Korea’s Lee to Beijing as China moves to shore up ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to a state visit in Beijing, a clear signal that China is looking to reinforce relations with Seoul amid growing regional tensions.

South Korea’s national security adviser, Wi Sung-lac, told reporters on Friday that Lee will meet Xi in Beijing on Monday, before travelling to Shanghai to visit the historic site of South Korea’s provisional government, established during Japan’s 35-year colonial rule.

Wi said the two leaders are expected to discuss “practical cooperation” in areas such as supply-chain investment, tourism and responses to transnational crime, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Lee is also expected to urge Beijing to play a “constructive” role in securing “a breakthrough in resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula”, Wi added.

The visit will mark the second meeting between Xi and Lee in just two months, an unusually short interval that analysts say reflects Beijing’s desire to strengthen ties with Seoul ahead of an upcoming summit between South Korea and Japan.

Relations between China and Japan remain strained after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a military response from Tokyo.

On Friday, Wi reaffirmed Seoul’s position on Taiwan, saying South Korea does “respect the one China policy and act in accordance with that position”. The policy recognises Beijing’s claim over Taiwan while allowing South Korea to maintain separate relations with the self-governing island.

Kang Jun-young, a professor of political economics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said China appears to be recalibrating its approach to Seoul.

“China wants to emphasise South Korea’s importance slightly more than before,” Kang said. “China appears to have strategically decided that it would be better to have [Lee] visit China before South Korea holds a summit with Japan again,” he told Reuters.

For Lee’s administration, the visit fits with a broader effort to “restore” relations with China, South Korea’s largest trading partner. At the same time, officials stress that Lee’s policy of “practical diplomacy” is meant to preserve strong ties with both Japan and the United States, Seoul’s key security ally.

Under Lee’s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea moved closer to Washington and Tokyo and took a more openly critical stance on China’s position on Taiwan. Lee has instead said he will not take sides in disputes between China and Japan, even as tensions around the Taiwan Strait intensify following Beijing’s recent large-scale military drills.

The talks may also touch on sensitive security issues, including efforts to modernise the South Korea-US alliance, which some analysts view as a counterweight to China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific, according to Shin Beom-chul, a former South Korean vice defence minister and senior fellow at the Sejong Institute.

About 28,500 US troops are currently stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean threats. US officials have signalled that those forces could be made more flexible to respond to wider regional challenges, including Taiwan and China’s expanding military reach.

“Korea is not simply responding to threats on the peninsula,” General Xavier Brunson, commander of US Forces Korea, said at a forum on December 29. “Korea sits at the crossroads of broader regional dynamics that shape the balance of power across Northeast Asia.”

With China remaining North Korea’s main ally and economic lifeline, analysts expect Lee to press Beijing to help revive dialogue with Pyongyang. North Korea dismissed Lee’s outreach last year, branding him a “hypocrite” and a “confrontational maniac”.

China and North Korea have continued to deepen coordination, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appearing alongside Xi at a major military parade in September.

Lee’s visit is also expected to focus on cooperation in critical minerals, supply chains and green industries, his office said.

Nearly half of South Korea’s rare earth imports, essential for semiconductor production, come from China, which also accounts for about a third of South Korea’s annual chip exports, making it Seoul’s largest market.

Last month, officials from both countries agreed to work towards stabilising rare earth supplies. The visit could also explore cooperation in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.

Huawei Technologies plans to launch its Ascend 950 AI chips in South Korea next year, offering an alternative to US-based Nvidia, Huawei’s South Korea CEO Balian Wang said at a news conference last month.

Another potential topic is China’s effective ban on K-pop content, in place since 2017 following South Korea’s deployment of the US THAAD missile defence system.