Jeju eagerly awaits Chinese tourists: governor

(ECNS) -- The people of South Korea's Jeju Self-Governing Province are eagerly expecting Chinese tourists and will do their best to welcome them at any time, said Oh Young-hun, governor of Jeju Special Autonomous Province during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming on Wednesday.

China and South Korea are inseparable neighbors and win-win cooperation partners. In the face of the increasing downward pressure of the global economy, the China-South Korea trade volume in 2022 rose against the trend to $362.3 billion, Xing said.

South Korea has become China's second largest trading partner. China's economic recovery is strong, and the epidemic situation is steadily declining. Many countries, including Southeast Asia and Europe, have opened their arms to welcome Chinese tourists, Xing added.

China is willing to work with South Korea to continuously deepen economic, trade cooperation and cultural exchanges, and support the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, he added.

Oh Young-hun said the Jeju Provincial Office will continue to strengthen communication and coordination between the South Korean epidemic prevention departments to eliminate the policy barriers for Chinese tourists.

He also said Jeju will promote the prosperity of tourism exchanges between the two countries and make positive contributions to the development of China-South Korea relations.