Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-Yong recently attended the China Development Forum (CDF) 2023, a three-day summit in Beijing, China. During the forum, Lee met with top executives from major tech giants, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, to discuss global management issues and future industry trends. They also talked about mid- to long-term cooperation.
The CDF is an annual forum organized by the Development Research Center of China’s State Council, first launched in 2000. This year’s theme was “Economic Recovery: Opportunities and Cooperation,” with participants discussing opportunities in the Chinese market, stabilization of global supply chains, and the green transition.
Lee also met with Chen Miner, the party secretary of Tianjin and a confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Samsung Display Chief Executive Officer Choi Joo-sun, Samsung Electro-Mechanics CEO Chang Duck-Hyun, and Samsung Electronics President Yang Geol, who is in charge of the China Strategy Cooperation Office, joined the meeting.
In addition to attending the CDF, Lee also visited Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ key production facility for Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors in Tianjin, China. The plant is one of Samsung’s two key production facilities for MLCC, which regulates the current flow in a circuit and prevents electromagnetic interference between components.
Prior to the MLCC plant inspection, Lee met with the regional corporate heads of Samsung affiliates in Tianjin, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI.
Tianjin, the northern municipality neighboring Beijing, is a strategic region for Samsung in China. Aside from the MLCC plant, Samsung Electro-Mechanics also has a camera module plant there. Samsung Display has a smartphone organic light-emitting diode production plant, and Samsung SDI produces secondary batteries that are used in smart devices and electric vehicles.
With the trip coming only days after the United States released details of the guardrails provisions for its CHIPS for American Incentive Program, eyes are on what Lee may have discussed with the Chinese officials, with Samsung running some of its key chip manufacturing plants there.
The US guardrail provisions limit the recipient of governmental subsidies from increasing production capacity in China, amid the intensifying Washington-Beijing rivalry.
Lee’s last visit to China was three years ago, during which he met with government officials of Shaanxi province and inspected the Xian chip plants. This trip marks his first visit to China in three years and is an opportunity for him to inspect the affiliates’ production facilities, meet with key Chinese officials, and attend a high-profile summit with global business leaders.