-Hwang Hyo-jin, Deputy Mayor for Global City Affairs, meets with Li Zhen, Deputy Mayor of Weihai-
Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok) announced on August 1 that Deputy Mayor Hwang Hyo-jin (hereinafter referred to as Deputy Mayor) met with Deputy Mayor Li Jian of Weihai City, Shandong Province, China, who visited Incheon, and discussed ways to strengthen local economic cooperation between the two cities under the Korea-China FTA.
During the meeting, Deputy Mayor Li Jian stated, “The Chinese Weihai Representative Office in Incheon is scheduled to relocate to Songdo Buyeong Tower on September 3 and reopen,” adding, “We hope that active exchanges between the two cities will continue, including high-level exchanges and business linkages in key industries.”
Since being selected as pilot cities for local economic cooperation under the FTA in 2015, Incheon and Weihai have signed a “Local Economic Cooperation Strengthening Agreement” in the same year, held the “Incheon-Weihai Local Economic Cooperation Joint Committee” annually, and established representative offices in each other's cities, consistently promoting regional industrial expansion, cultural exchange, and human resource exchange.
Incheon City plans to use Vice Mayor Li Zhen's visit as an opportunity to further strengthen high-level exchanges between the two cities and actively utilize cooperation platforms such as forums and expos to explore ways to promote business matching and practical cooperation in leading industrial fields.
Vice Mayor Hwang Hyo-jin responded, “For the successful implementation and tangible results of the Korea-China FTA pilot city initiative, comprehensive cooperation between the two cities is crucial. Let us create a business cooperation model based on the industrial strengths of both cities.”
He also requested Weihai City's active participation in the “2025 InChina Forum International Conference” and the “8th Incheon-Weihai Local Economic Cooperation Joint Committee” to be held at Songdo Convention Center on September 2.
Meanwhile, Weihai City in China is a port city located at the easternmost tip of Shandong Province, with a population of 3 million and the shortest distance (approximately 370 km) from Incheon. It is particularly developed in the tourism industry, with 67.27 million domestic and international tourists visiting in 2024, and is also advanced in bio-industry, smart manufacturing, renewable energy, and healthcare tourism.
