Samsung, SK seek dialogue with China at Boao Forum

BEIJING – The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is expected to serve as a venue for the world’s two largest memory chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics CO. and SK Hynix Inc. -- to share their concerns about the escalating rivalry between Beijing and Washington as they are in desperate need of communication with Chinese authorities.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee will attend the annual conference, known as the Chinese version of the Davos Forum, held in Boao, Hainan from March 28 to 31.

The 2023 event is its first offline gathering since 2019. It was held online in both 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the 2020 conference was canceled.

The BFA is also the first global conference hosted by China since the US CHIPS and Science Act, aimed at containing China’s growing influence, was signed into law in August 2022.

The two Korean semiconductor leaders are expected to take advantage of the annual event to address their concerns about the faceoff between the world’s two biggest economies over chip technology dominance.

It is chaired by Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016 and a former South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister. 

The CHIPS Act contains a $39 billion package of subsidies for chipmakers. But to qualify for the subsidies, recipients cannot make new, high-tech investments in China or other “countries of concern” for at least a decade.

 
The ACT puts Samsung and SK in a quandary. They need to maintain friendly relationships with China, their largest trading partner, under growing pressure from the Joe Biden administration to reduce their reliance on China.

China plus Hong Kong account for nearly two-thirds of exports of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The 2023 BFA is being held under the theme of “An uncertain world: solidarity and cooperation for development amid challenges.”

At the BFA, Li Qiang, China’s No. 2 leader and the premier of the State Council of China, is scheduled to give a keynote speech.

Ahead of the conference, he held formal meetings with Samsung’s Lee and other global business leaders, including Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook and Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi oil giant Aramco, on the sidelines of the March 25-27 China Development Forum (CDF).

It was Lee's first participation in the CDF since its inception in 2000.

At the CDF, Li reaffirmed China’s commitment to maintaining a proper rate of economic growth while striving for better quality to achieve higher-quality development, according to a China Daily report.

He also pledged unwavering efforts to expand the country’s opening despite changes in the international landscape.

Li is expected to give a similar message in his speech for the BFA. Beijing needs to attract foreign investments to reinvigorate its pandemic-hit economy after it reopened its border.

Meanwhile, SK's Chey will participate in the ESG session as a panelist, together with the group’s social value enhancement studies head Na Suk-kwon. SK is a major sponsor of the BFA and Chey serves as a director of the conference.

Write to Hyun-Woo Kang at hkang@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.