President Xi Jinping arrived in Seoul on July 3 at the start of his first visit to South Korea since taking office last year.
Upon arrival in Seoul, President Xi said he looks forward to exchanging in-depth views with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and jointly mapping out the future of bilateral cooperation.
China is South Korea’s leading export destination and source of imports – and it is thus South Korea’s largest trading partner. Two-way trade hit $274.2 billion in 2013, a 55-fold increase since 1992 – the year the two countries established diplomatic ties.
South Korea is China’s third biggest trading partner, and its investment in China rose 87.9 percent in the first five months this year.
The following list concerns details about the top 10 South Korean companies that have contributed the most to trade ties between the two countries.
Source: Fortune Global 500 2013 list
No. 10: S-Oil
China office location: Shanghai municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 371
CEO: Nasser Al-Mahasher
Employees: 2,691
Revenues: $30,829.9 million
Profits: $519.5 million
Assets: $11,674.9 million
No. 9: Korea Gas Corporation
China business unit location: Hong Kong SAR
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 365
CEO: Kangsoo Choo
Employees: 2,976
Revenues: $31,103.40 million
Profits: $325.6 million
Assets: $37,948.3 million
No. 8: Kia Motors Corporation
China headquarters location: Shanghai municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 252
CEO: Hyoung-Keun Lee
Employees: 47,083
Revenues: $41,945.8 million
Profits: $3,431.4 million
Assets: $30,266.1 million
No. 7: GS Caltex Corporation
China business unit location: Shandong province
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 239
CEO: Jin-Soo Huh
Employees: 4,535
Revenues: $43,407.6 million
Profits: $651.8 million
Assets: $21,060.4 million
No. 6: Korea Electric Power Corporation
China headquarters location: Beijing municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 235
CEO: Hwan-Eik Cho
Employees: 38,611
Revenues: $43,612.9 million
Profits: $-2,811.6 million
Assets: $136,534 million
No. 5: LG Electronics Inc
China headquarters location: Beijing municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank 225
CEO: Bon-Joon Koo
Employees: 86,697
Revenues: $45,246.1 million
Profits $59.3 million
Assets $29,387.1 million
No. 4: POSCO (Pohang Iron and Steel Company)
China headquarters location: Beijing municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 167
CEO Joon-Yang Chung
Employees 35094
Revenues: $56,472.5 million
Profits: $2,186 million
Assets: $74,049.1 million
No. 3: Hyundai Motor Company
China headquarters location: Beijing municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 104
CEO: Mong-Koo Chung
Employees: 98,348
Revenue: $74,998.5 million
Profits: $7601.8 million
Assets: $113,539 million
No. 2: SK Holdings Co Ltd
China headquarters location: Beijing municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 57
CEO: Tae-won Chey
Employees: 78,593
Revenue: $106,258.8 million
Profits: $931.3 million
Assets: $84,679.5 million
No. 1: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
China headquarters location: Beijing municipality
Fortune Global 500 2013 rank: 14
CEO: Oh-Hyun Kwon
Employees: 236,000
Revenue: 178,554.80 million
Profits: $20,585.7 million
Assets: $169,154.6 million