STORY: ROK banker expects to unlock new opportunities in China
DATELINE: June 29, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:36
LOCATION: TIANJIN, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Tianjin
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Korean): KIM WON SEOB, President of the Industrial Bank of Korea (China) Ltd.
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Korean): KIM WON SEOB, President of the Industrial Bank of Korea (China) Ltd.
4. various of Tianjin

STORYLINE:
 
Kim Won Seob, a banker from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and president of the Industrial Bank of Korea (China) Ltd., has been lately occupied with the bank's 2023 business expansion plan in China.

Kim says his bank seeks to expand business because China's economy is picking up faster than many expected.
　　
Kim moved to Tianjin in 2008 and has been working in this coastal city ever since.
　　
During this time, he witnessed the development of IBK China Ltd., which was established in Tianjin in 2009.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Korean): KIM WON SEOB, President of the Industrial Bank of Korea (China) Ltd.
"When I first came to Tianjin in 2008, IBK China Ltd. was not yet established. We were just an overseas branch of a South Korean bank serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As China steps up the speed of opening up, its financial market became increasingly internationalized. We established IBK China Ltd. in June 2009 in Tianjin to finance SMEs as a policy bank. We mainly serve SMEs from South Korea and help them with their localization."

In China, the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) operates eight branches and eight sub-branches under IBK China Ltd. as of March 31, 2022.
　　
Amid the growing vitality of China's private economy, the bank's main target customers have shifted from Korean-funded enterprises to Chinese-funded small and micro enterprises.
　　
According to Kim, China boasts a very large market and it is full of business opportunities.
　　
SOUNDBITE 2 (Korean): KIM WON SEOB, President of the Industrial Bank of Korea (China) Ltd.
"We are particularly optimistic about the prospects of the green economy in China. At the same time, we are also committed to supporting China in achieving its 'dual carbon' goal by increasing green credit investment. We strive to innovate new products to provide financial services to green and low-carbon enterprises. We have included green finance services in the performance assessment of our employees. In the future, we will continue to launch more tailored new financial products to further expand our customer base in the green finance sector."

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, China and the ROK have enjoyed robust trade and economic cooperation.

Bilateral trade has surged to more than 360 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 from over 5 billion U.S. dollars in 1992.

The cumulative two-way investment between the two countries has exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars.　

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tianjin, China.
(XHTV)