On September 20, the 2025 China-ROK Relations Forum: Repositioning and Future Prospects of China-ROK Relations under the New Situation was successfully held at Shandong University, Weihai Campus. Wang Mingshan, Vice President of Weihai Campus, Liang Fengjun, Party Secretary of the School of Northeast AsiaStudies, and Ryu Ji-won, Director of the Institute for China-ROK Relations at Wonkwang University of the Republic of Korea, attended the forum and delivered speeches.
In his address, Wang Mingshan stressed the strategic significance of China-ROK relations amid the current international landscape. He noted that the forum is of great value for exploring the development direction of bilateral ties and advancing exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. He stated that the university will continue to transform the forum outcomes into tangible results, and contribute to consolidating the public support for China-ROK relations and providing solid academic backing.
Liang Fengjun pointed out that the international community is undergoing complex and profound changes. While China-ROK relations are confronted with new challenges, they also embrace extensive new opportunities. Against this backdrop, the two countries need to pool wisdom, deepen mutual trust, expand cooperation and jointly tackle common challenges.
Ryu Ji-won reviewed the successful journey of the China-ROK Relations Forum co-hosted by the two universities over the past eleven years, and looked ahead to the development path of China-ROK relations in the new era. He emphasized that the forum serves as a vital platform for in-depth academic exchanges and dialogues between the two nations, helping generate new ideas to drive the growth of bilateral relations.
Twenty renowned experts and scholars from China and the Republic of Korea gathered at the event. They conducted in-depth discussions on topics including the positioning and prospects of China-ROK relations within the international framework, social perceptions and exchange approaches between the two countries, as well as opportunities for scientific and technological cooperation and common development. The participating experts put forward numerous forward-looking viewpoints and suggestions, injecting new impetus into bilateral exchanges and cooperation in politics, economy, culture, science and technology. The successful convening of the forum has not only built a high-level dialogue platform for academic and policy communities of the two countries, but also offered new intellectual resources and cooperation opportunities for the long-term development of China-ROK relations.
Since the School of Northeast Asia Studies of Shandong University and the Institute for China-ROK Relations of Wonkwang University signed theAgreement on Cooperation and Academic Exchangesin 2015, the two sides have taken turns to conduct mutual visits and jointly host the China-ROK Relations Forum every year. Over the past eleven years, adhering to academic principles, the forum has vigorously promoted close exchanges and in-depth cooperation between Chinese and ROK academic circles, evolving into an important platform for people-to-people exchanges and knowledge sharing between the two countries. In 2023, the two institutions renewed their cooperation agreement on the basis of the original one, further broadening the scope and enriching the connotation of bilateral cooperation.
