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Oct. 5, 2009: President Hu Jintao calls for a stronger China-DPRK alliance in a message in Chinese and DPRK state media. Oct. 4-6, 2009: Premier Wen Jiabao visits North Korea and meets Chairman Kim Jong-il and other senior officials. Oct. 9-10, 2009: The China-Korea-Japan trilateral summit is held in Beijing. President Lee Myung-bak and Premier Wen Jiabao hold bilateral talks on the sidelines. Oct. 10, 2009: ROK Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and Chinese counterpart Chen Deming in Beijing agree to advance efforts to sign a China-ROK free trade agreement. Oct. 15-20, 2009: Kim Yang-gon, director of the Worker’s Party of Korea United Front Department, visits China. Oct. 16, 2009: Samsung Electronics Co. announces it will invest $2.23 billion to build a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) plant in Suzhou. China-Korea Relations 103 January 2010 Oct. 19, 2009: South Korea’s Lotte Shopping Co. agrees to take over Chinese supermarket operator Times for up to $630 million and buys a 72.3 percent stake in the Chinese company. Oct. 20, 2009: South Korea’s leading maker of power cables, LS Cable Ltd., gains approval of state-run China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. to enter China’s nuclear power market. Oct. 21, 2009: South Korea’s Nice Investors Services Co., China’s Dagong Global Credit Ratings Co., and Japan’s Ratings & Investment Information Inc. agree to launch a shared regional credit rating system to better appraise Asian companies and bonds. Oct. 26, 2009: China announces that it will stop releasing official trade data on North Korea. Oct. 27-31, 2009: Choe Thae-bok, secretary of the DPRK’s Worker’s Party of Korea Central Committee, leads a delegation in Beijing to meet Chinese counterparts. Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2009: Chinese vessel Zhenghe carrying 365 naval cadets docks at South Korea’s Jinhae port as part of its Asia trip aimed to boost regional ties. Nov. 3, 2009: LG Display Co. and Guangzhou city establish a $1.33 billion joint venture, LG Display China, and agree to invest $4 billion in an 8th generation LCD plant in Guangzhou. Nov. 3, 2009: Grand National Party Secretary General Chang Kwang-keun meets Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, in Beijing and urges China to cooperate on repatriating detained ROK prisoners of war. Nov. 3-7, 2009: DPRK Air Force Maj. Gen. Kim Kwang-su leads a delegation to Beijing to attend 60th anniversary celebrations of the Chinese Air Force and meet senior officials. Nov. 5-10: ROK Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Kye-hoon visits Beijing and meets Chinese counterpart Xu Qiliang. Nov. 10, 2009: The ROK Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Chinese counterpart agree on a fishing quota balance of 60,000 tons each by 2013 by cutting back on fishing activities in each other’s exclusive economic zones. Nov. 13, 2009: Chinese authorities begin investigating the death of a North Korean consul in Shenyang whose body was discovered in late October. Nov. 17, 2009: A DPRK military delegation led by Gen. Kim Jong-gak visits China. Nov. 18, 2009: Officials of the ROK Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs meet Chinese counterparts in Beijing and agree to conduct joint research on the Arctic Ocean. Nov. 18-22, 2009: ROK National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o visits Beijing and meets National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo and President Hu Jintao. China-Korea Relations 104 January 2010 Nov. 19, 2009: ROK Culture Minister Yu In-chon and Chinese counterpart Shao Qiwei meet in Kunming and agree to expand tourism exchanges. Nov. 22-26, 2009: Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie visits Pyongyang and meets Kim Jong-il and his DPRK counterpart Kim Yong-chun. Nov. 23, 2009: ROK Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyung-hwan attends a bilateral investment cooperation committee meeting in Beijing and urges China to refrain from implementing excessive anti-dumping measures against ROK petrochemical products. Nov. 25, 2009: “Visit Korea Year 2010-2012” is launched in Shanghai. Nov. 29, 2009: The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announces that China will review anti-dumping measures against chloroform imports from the EU, ROK, and US. Dec. 12-22, 2009: ROK and DPRK officials tour southern China’s Qingdao, Suzhou, Shenzhen, and Yenpong, Vietnam, to conduct a survey of factories for Kaesong joint industrial complex. Dec. 15-19, 2009: Ju Sang Song, DPRK minister of People’s Security, visits China and meets State Councilor and Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu. Dec. 16-19, 2009: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits South Korea as part of his Asian tour to Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Dec. 19, 2009: Hyundai Motor Co. and Baotou Bei Ben Heavy-Duty Truck Co. agree to launch a 50-50 joint venture in 2010 worth $400 million. Dec. 26, 2009: Yu Woo-ik is appointed ROK ambassador to China. Dec. 31, 2009: The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announces it will re-examine anti-dumping measures against optical fiber imports from South Korea and Japan.