South Korea opened a consulate general in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, on Thursday.

Yoo Jai-hyon, first consul general of the Xi'an mission, said at the inauguration ceremony that South Korea and China have made great progress in political, economic and cultural cooperation since the two countries forged diplomatic ties, while the exchanges between South Korea and western China regions are still in their early stages.

"With the implementation of China's western development drive, South Korean businesses and tourists are becoming increasingly interested in China's west and we anticipate that the opening of the new consulate general in Xi'an will help enhance the exchanges and cooperation," Yoo said.

Yuan Chunqing, provincial governor of Shaanxi, said the opening of the consulate general marks a significant achievement for the exchanges between the two countries.

He hoped cooperation between Shaanxi and South Korea would be further promoted to achieve mutually-beneficial results.

Aside from Xi'an, South Korea has opened consulates general in five cities on the Chinese mainland: Shenyang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou.

It is also the first foreign consulate general to be established in Xi'an.

Last year, the China-South Korea trade volume reached US$134.3 billion, increasing by almost 26 times from more than US$5 billion in 1992, when the two countries established diplomatic ties, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

South Korea has become China's sixth largest trade partner after the EU, the US, Japan, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and the Hong Kong region. China is South Korea's No. 1 trade partner and export market.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2007)