President Lee Jae-myung attended the Korea-China Venture Startup Summit held at the Shanghai International Convention Center in China on the 7th (local time) and proposed a new model of cooperation for the qualitative growth of the two countries' startup ecosystems. A key outcome of the summit was the establishment of a $25 million (approximately KRW 36.2 billion) global fund between Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC) and China Merchants Bank International (CMBI).
This is interpreted as a full-fledged strategic alliance that goes beyond simple liquidity provision and links the two countries' technologies and markets in so-called "deep tech" fields such as bio, artificial intelligence (AI), and autonomous driving.
The newly established global fund will be formed with a Korean parent fund contributing $10 million and a matching contribution from CMBI, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, one of the largest asset holders in China.
The industry is noting that partner CMBI has recently focused its investments on "hard tech" sectors with high technological barriers, such as bio-healthcare and autonomous driving. This fund will not only serve as a stepping stone for domestic startups struggling to secure funding, but will also serve as a practical bridgehead, leveraging Chosun Bank's extensive network of local companies to help domestic companies enter the B2B market and secure supply chains.
The event was attended by a number of key companies representing the technological prowess of both countries, lending credence to this analysis. From Korea, attendees included Seo Beom-seok, CEO of medical AI company Lunit; Ahn Jung-hyun, CEO of autonomous drone startup CNS; and Choi Hong-seok, CEO of conversational AI startup Maum AI. These technology companies overlap directly with CMBI's core investment portfolio, and are in areas where rapid growth is possible by leveraging China's massive data and proven environment. On the Chinese side, neurotech unicorn Brainco and AI startup Minimax also participated, exploring the possibility of technological partnerships between the two countries' companies.
In his congratulatory address, President Lee Jae-myung emphasized, "Innovation is not the exclusive domain of any one country." He added, "Combining China's overwhelming speed and scale with Korea's high level of trust and stability can create tremendous synergy." Citing the example of Joseon Dynasty scholar Park Je-ga, he emphasized that only when Korea's venture ecosystem organically connects with China's innovation environment can we find solutions for shared growth.
Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Seong-sook praised the summit, saying, "This summit concretized the cooperative atmosphere fostered by summit diplomacy into tangible results in the form of venture investment." She added, "We will continue to provide unwavering support to help venture startups from both countries leap into the global market." Experts predict that the fund will provide domestic deep-tech companies with a "giant testbed" in China and, through collaboration with influential local capitalists like CMBI, serve as a catalyst for their growth into unicorn companies.
Meanwhile, during President Lee Jae-myung's four-day state visit to Beijing, China, 24 export contracts worth $44.11 million were signed.