Premier Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have agreed to launch a diplomatic and security dialogue and resume talks on a free trade agreement, according to Yoon's office.
Yoon and Li met in Seoul a day before a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first three-way talks by the Asian neighbors in more than four years.
China and US-allied South Korea and Japan are trying to manage rising distrust between Beijing and Washington and tensions over Taiwan.
Expectations are low for the trilateral summit, but even handshakes would help maintain at least some high-level diplomacy after years of deteriorating ties, diplomats and officials say.
The leaders could make progress in areas of practical cooperation like people-to-people exchanges and consular matters.
Yoon told Li that South Korea and China should work together not only to promote shared interests based on mutual respect but also on regional and global issues to tackle common challenges, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and global economic uncertainties.
"Just as Korea and China have overcome various difficulties together over the past 30 years and contributed to each other's development and growth, I hope to continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation even in the face of today's complex global crises," Yoon said.
Li said China will further expand market access, strengthen guarantees for foreign investment and welcome South Korean companies like Samsung to expand investment and cooperation.
Since 2021 Chinese companies and state entities have been increasingly cut off from ready access to the world's most advanced chips, many of them produced by South Korean tech giants like Samsung and SK Hynix.
Kishida met separately with Li, saying the stability of the Taiwan Strait is very important for Japan and the international community.
Kishida said he asked China to lift a ban on imported Japanese seafood, imposed after Japan began releasing treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific.
He also asked for the early release of Japanese citizens detained in China.
Yoon, Li and Kishida will adopt a joint statement on six areas, including the economy and trade, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges and health and aging population.
The summit comes as South Korea and Japan have been working to mend ties frayed by historical disputes while deepening a trilateral security partnership with the United States amid intensifying Sino-US rivalry.
China has previously warned that US efforts to further elevate relations with South Korea and Japan could fan regional tension and confrontation.
