Lee made the remarks in an interview with China’s state-run Xinhua news agency published a day ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in the South Korean city of Busan on Thursday. This marks Xi’s first visit to South Korea in 11 years, following his last trip in July 2014.

In the interview, Lee expressed hopes of advancing the “mature development” of bilateral ties, while noting that as China’s industrial competitiveness and hi-tech capabilities rose sharply, competition between businesses in the two countries had grown.

“However, I believe South Korea and China can pool wisdom to mature and advance the strategic partnership based on ‘friendly competition’ and ‘equal cooperation’,” he said, according to the Xinhua report.

“In particular, I believe there is an urgent need to explore new complementary cooperation models in economic and trade sectors to further energise enterprises and industries in both countries.”