The 20th Local Government Exchange Seminar between China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the 22nd Korea Heart to Heart (K2H) Symposium on International Exchanges of Civil Servants opened in Changsha on April 16, 2026. 

Provincial leaders Hu Xusheng, Wang Yi'ou, and Xiao Bailing were present.

The two events have been held in several provinces and cities across China, serving as important platforms for connecting local governments of China and the ROK, promoting China-ROC economic and trade cooperation, and enhancing people-to-people friendship. This year's seminar will last two days, themed "Enhance Government and Business Collaboration Between Hunan and the ROK, Write a New Chapter of Economy, Trade, Culture and Tourism Cooperation."

The events are co-hosted by the Governors Association of the ROK, the Embassy of the ROK in China, and the Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government. The event has brought together approximately 260 participants, including representatives from 17 regional governments from the ROK, representatives of ROK local government offices in China, representatives of ROK local government dispatched public officials, representatives from 31 Chinese provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, and former participants of the K2H Program. They will focus on three core areas—mutual learning of local governance experiences, connectivity of cultural and tourism resources, and complementarity of economic and trade industries, working together to share ideas and chart the course for cooperation.

At the opening ceremony, vice governor Wang Yi'ou summarized the achievements of Hunan-ROK cooperation in recent years. He stated that Hunan will leverage the foundation of sister-city relations, economic, trade, cultural and tourism cooperation, and civil servant exchanges, to continue to deepen mutual learning and practical cooperation with the ROK in areas such as economic and trade investment and industrial alignment. Efforts will be made to strengthen mutual promotion of cultural and tourism resources, reciprocal visitor flows, and shared markets. Hunan will keep facilitating exchanges and learning among local government officials of China and the ROK to enhance mutual understanding, deepen practical cooperation of local governments, and jointly consolidate and advance China-ROK friendship. By embracing the vision of peaceful and win-win cooperation, Hunan and the ROK will write a new chapter in bilateral collaboration.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn