SEOUL — Visiting State Councilor Wang Yong has said that China and the Republic of Korea should strengthen cooperation to safeguard a rule-based multilateral trading system and build an open world economy.

Wang made the remarks during his meeting with ROK Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Nov 19.

Wang, who arrived in Seoul on Nov 19, met with Lee before delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Seoul Conference on Nov 20.

China and the ROK, as friendly neighbors and strategic cooperative partners, have witnessed remarkable progress in exchanges and cooperation in various fields, Wang said.

Under the new circumstances, the two sides should implement the series of important consensus reached between leaders of the two countries, strengthen political communication, consolidate the foundation of mutual trust and promote healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, he added.

He said the two countries should implement cooperation projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, accelerate the second-phase negotiations of the bilateral free trade agreement, expand the fields of pragmatic cooperation and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

Lee, for his part, spoke highly of China’s historic achievements over the past 40 years since the reform and opening-up.

He said the ROK is willing to implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries in the spirit of mutual trust and mutual respect, and promote the development of ROK-China ties.

The ROK side thanked China for its contribution to achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and stands ready to work together with China to build a more open and free world economy, he said.

The Boao Forum for Asia Seoul Conference, with the theme “An Open and Innovative Asia,” was jointly hosted by the Boao Forum for Asia and the ROK’s Federation of Korean Industries. It marked the first time the Boao Forum for Asia hosted a global conference in the ROK and it was also the largest conference so far hosted outside China by the Boao Forum for Asia.