The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) held “KISDI Global Conference 2013: Korea-China Cooperation and Co-Evolution of ICT Ecosystem” at the International Conference Room of the Korea Chamber of Commerce on October 24 with the support of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

With a consensus on the need to reestablish the existing ICT industrial order between Korea and China in the light of the rapid development of the Chinese ICT industry, the Conference offered an invaluable opportunity for the two countries’ experts to share their thoughts and insights for win-win strategies for bilateral cooperation and to set a future direction for the constructive relationship between Korea and China.  

The first session of the Conference was kicked off with a keynote speech by Huang Sujian, Deputy Director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) titled “The rise of China and restructuring of global ICT industrial order” and moderated by Professor Oh Seungyul of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. During the session, presentations on “Industrial structure enhancement and the current status of the high value-added ICT industry in China” by Sun Ke, researcher of the China Academy of Telecommunication Research and “Development of the ICT industry in China and re-positioning of the ICT industry” by Kim Sungok, senior researcher of KISDI were delivered.

In the following panel discussion, You Wuyang, researcher of Alibaba Group and Hong Sungbum, senior researcher of the Science and Technology Policy Institute thoroughly discussed the structural advancement of the Chinese ICT industry, its implications on Korea, and necessary countermeasures based on the panel presentations. 

With Ko Sangwon, Head of the International Cooperation Research Division at KISDI as a moderator, the Session 2 began with presentations titled “The growth paradigm of the ‘Creative Economy’ and Korea-China cooperation in the ICT industry” by Kim Yoonzi, senior researcher of the Industry and Overseas Investment Research Office of the Korea Eximbank and “The current situation of China e-commerce platform development and Korea-China cooperation” by Gao Hongbing, Vice President of Alibaba Group. In the following panel discussion, two discussants ― Xiao Hongjun of CASS and Kwon Hoyoung of the Korea Creative Content Agency ― talked about ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the content, platform and other various ICT sectors. 

The issues covered during the Conference including the direction, strategies and implications of the Korea-China cooperation in the ICT industry should lead to further discussions in the academia, industry and government, and ultimately be reflected in related policies. And this will enable Korea to turn the growing influence of China, which is currently perceived as a threat, into an opportunity and to lay the foundation for practical cooperation between the two countries, which will in turn promote co-prosperity rather than competition in the ICT industry of the two neighboring nations.