On October 26, 2011, President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Myung-bak met with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang at Chong Wa Dae in Seoul.

During the meeting, Li first conveyed the cordial greetings and good wishes from President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to President Lee. The Chinese vice premier said China and the ROK had seen rapid development in exchanges and cooperation in various areas, and bilateral relations had been promoted to a new level since the two countries established diplomatic relations nearly 20 years ago. Leaders of the two countries maintained frequent exchanges, he said, adding mutual political trust was deepening constantly. The two nations also established a strategic cooperative partnership. Bilateral trade volume surpassed the target of 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, two years ahead of schedule, and it was expected to achieve new breakthroughs this year, while people-to-people exchanges had also been very active. In addition, the two countries had kept close communications and coordination on major international and regional affairs, Li said.

China would continue to attach great importance to China-ROK relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and it was willing to work with the ROK to further promote exchanges and cooperation in various areas, push bilateral ties forward and contribute to regional peace, stability and common prosperity, Li said. The high-level contacts should be continued, and more efforts should be made by the two sides to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level and promote the establishment of a free trade zone between the two countries in the new complex situation of the world economy, Li said. Li also said the two countries should expand their currency swap lines from the current 180 billion yuan (28 billion U.S. dollars) to 360 billion yuan (56 billion dollars), to further boost bilateral trade and investment and help stabilize regional financial and economic stability. The two countries should also expand people-to-people exchanges and work together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties next year, Li said.

Lee asked Li to convey his cordial greetings to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. He said the ROK and China maintained sound cooperation in economic, cultural and international affairs. He said his country appreciated China's support on the Yeosu World Expo, to be held in the ROK next year, and highly praised China's important role in dealing with the impacts of the international financial crisis. The two countries should give full play to their advantage as close neighbors and expand cooperation in all areas. The ROK would keep high-level contacts with China, and make joint efforts to further promote practical economic and trade cooperation for even greater development, Lee said. He urged both sides to take the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties next year as an opportunity to expand personnel exchanges and deepen people-to-people friendship.

With regard to the situation on the Korean peninsula, Li said maintaining peace and stability of the peninsula served the common interests of countries in the region. Under concerted efforts of the relevant parties, the situation on the peninsula had eased in the second half of this year, Li said. China hoped the various parties could make further efforts to maintain and cement dialogue and the momentum of detente, so as to achieve early resumption of the long-stalled Six-Party Talks to effectively maintain peace and stability and realize denuclearization of the peninsula. China sincerely supported the ROK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in improving their relations through dialogue, and realizing reconciliation and cooperation so as to achieve common development, Li said.

Lee said the ROK appreciated China's major constructive role in the Korean peninsula's issues. The ROK was willing to make concerted efforts with various parties to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula, and push the denuclearization process forward. The ROK also hoped to engage in dialogue with the DPRK and improve inter-Korean ties with a pragmatic attitude.