Ren Youfa's Analysis of Sino-Korea Business Cooperation

At the invitation of the Korean Trade Association and the Asian Institute of Seoul University, Ren Youfa, Chairman of Haining China Leather City, gave a special speech at Seoul University on May 29. It is reported that Ren Youfa was the first Chinese CEO to attend the Seoul University.

In the speech titled "China CEO Analysis: Opportunities and Challenges of Korean Business in China", Ren Youfa introduced the Chinese business model to participants in the context of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea for 20 years and Haining China Leather City for 18 years. The evolution process, status quo, and development trends have been analyzed and suggestions have been made on the further expansion of Korean commerce and the space for cooperation with China.

In an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times, Ren Youfa stated that Korean businesses have a variety of leading models, ranging from famous department stores such as Lotte Department Store to professional markets known as clothing such as Seoul Dongdaemun. However, compared to modern industrial products such as Samsung and Samsung, the pace of Korean business entry into China is relatively slow, and it has become a “short board” for China-South Korea economic and trade cooperation. For example, there have been no less than one hundred “Koreatowns” across China, but the success rate is low.

Ren Youfa believes that foreign second and third tier brands, because they are constrained by human and material resources, are difficult to quickly occupy the Chinese first-tier cities through the store model as the world's top tier brands, thus opening the market. At one point, more than 150 brands of Korean clothing entered China. Due to the lack of awareness among Chinese consumers, only a few brands, such as clothing and love, were firmly established. In his view, the most favorable way for these second and third-line brands to open up the Chinese market is to use commercial power to "puppet" the operation. On May 14th, the China-Korean style launched the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. For South Korea, which has a large number of SMEs, it is necessary to strengthen the opportunities for FTA and strengthen the Sino-Korea business cooperation.

Xu Xutai, head of the General Chamber of Commerce of the Korean Trade Association, said that the continuous increase in spending power in the Chinese market is an extremely important market for South Korea. The Korea Trade Association is very willing to cooperate with Chinese companies including Haining Leather City to promote the pace of South Korean business development in the Chinese market.

Ren Youfa’s speech attracted more than 200 people from all walks of life in Korea, among whom no one from the business community. At the lecture, the reporter interviewed the CEO of HASCO, who is well-known for its average price, Park Sung-fu, the deputy president Shen Hexin, and the general manager of China headquarters, Cui Changhuan. The reporter learned that Shen Hexuan and Cui Changhuan specifically came back to Seoul from Shanghai to listen to and communicate with Ren Youfa. Shen Hezheng said that the successful model of Haining China Leather City has a lot of inspiration and inspiration for Korean business, and hopes to have the opportunity to jointly explore the market.

Seoul National University has always been the number one comprehensive university in Korea. Seoul National University’s Asian Institute has invited Dr. Kissinger, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea and many other foreign political leaders to speak at Seoul University. Director Lin Xuanzhen told reporters that this is the first time that Seoul University has invited prominent figures in the Chinese business community to give speeches. This also shows that South Korea’s various circles expect China and South Korea to strengthen economic and trade cooperation.