South Korea’s SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited Chongqing, a major city in southwest China on Saturday to meet with Sun Zhengcai, secretary general of the provincial administration to discuss ways to enhance business cooperation especially in petrochemical and memory chip sector.

It marked the third visit by Chey to China since he returned to the group management helm in August 2015, showing his strong willingness to bolster the group’s business in the world’s second largest economy. He met with Wang Yupu, chairman of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) in Beijing on September 8 to expand their business ties in not only the petrochemical sector but also in oil refining, lubricants and lubricating oil industries.

During this visit, Chey is expected to focus on strengthening business relations with the city of Chongqing, which the group considers as a gateway to the western China. He has been serving as an economic adviser for the city since 2011.

“There is a lot of room for cooperation between Chongqing and SK Group as demands for chemical products and chips are rising while supply has been falling behind,” said Sun. He has been considered to be a leading candidate for a top leadership position in China.

“We will look for ways to enhance mutual benefits for the group and Chongqing,” Chey said in response. “We will put our utmost efforts to create success in the city as we did with SK Hynix’s Wuxi facility and an ethylene manufacturing plant in Wuhan,” he added.

He visited SK Hynix’s chip assembly plant in Chongqing that the company opened in 2014 on the same day.

The group’s Global Growth Committee is hosting a special conference for two days on Sunday and Monday in line with Chey’s visit. It is the first time the conference is held overseas.

By Park Yong-beom

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]