It was the first one-on-one meeting between Xi and Lee since the latter assumed office in June. The meeting took place at the Gyeongju National Museum, the same venue where Lee and US President Donald Trump held a summit on Wednesday.
In his opening remarks, Xi said that China and South Korea were cooperation partners that “cannot be separated”.
“China will work with South Korea to accelerate the second-phase negotiations of the bilateral free-trade agreement and to explore the potential for cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, green industries and the silver economy,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
He also called for cooperation to combat online scams and telefraud at the bilateral and regional levels amid a surge in cases involving the kidnapping and torture of South Koreans in Cambodia.
