Will China ask for Samsung's investment during chairman's visit?

Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivers his speech at the opening of the China Development Forum 2026 held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Sunday. AFP-Yonhap

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to meet with key Chinese business partners during his visit to Beijing to attend the China Development Forum (CDF), stoking speculation over whether Beijing will push for fresh investment in the company’s chip operations, particularly NAND flash memory, in China.

According to industry officials, Lee is attending CDF, which opened at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing Sunday for a two-day run. After finishing the official forum schedule, he is expected to stay in China for a few more days to review local business operations and meet with heads of partner companies.

His trip comes as Beijing is stepping up efforts to court foreign investment from global tech businesses. This year’s CDF brings together 88 global executives, including Lee, Apple CEO Tim Cook and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, under the theme “China in its 15th Five-Year Plan Period: Advancing High-Quality Development and Creating New Opportunities Together.”

The forum has long served as a key platform for Chinese policymakers and senior officials to engage directly with global business leaders, and this year’s edition carries added weight as China faces sluggish economic growth and aims to broaden global backing for its national development agenda during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

Against the backdrop, Chinese President Xi Jinping is widely expected to urge stronger foreign investment during meetings with global CEOs, including Lee.

Xi has signaled strong commitment to attracting overseas capital by publicly ensuring support for foreign investors, and is expected to double his efforts to draw foreign investment in the Chinese market, particularly in advanced industries.

Last year, Lee attended CDF 2025 and visited Xiaomi’s electric vehicle (EV) factory after the forum to met with its CEO Lei Jun and discuss cooperation in automotive electronics, such as multilayer ceramic capacitors. Lee later traveled to Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to visit the headquarters of BYD, the world’s largest EV maker.

Lee’s meetings with key partners are expected to follow a similar pattern this year, and Chinese industrial giants such as Xiaomi, Baidu and ByteDance are already mentioned as potential counterparts for meetings.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, shakes hand with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during their meeting in central Seoul in a file photo from May 26, 2024. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Among areas of cooperation, semiconductors are likely to take center stage, given China’s growing presence in the artificial intelligence sector and the corresponding demand for memory chips.

Industry officials speculate that China may use Lee’s visit as an opportunity to push Samsung Electronics to expand its memory-related investments in the country, as the company also needs to upgrade its NAND production at its Xi’an plant in Shaanxi province.

The Xi’an plant is one of Samsung’s key production bases for NAND memory, reportedly accounting for 40 to 60 percent of the company’s total output. The facility currently focuses on its seventh-generation 128-layer process, and Samsung is working to transition to more advanced 236-layer and 286-layer technologies.

These efforts had been delayed due to restrictions on bringing U.S.-made equipment for advanced NAND production of over 128 layers into China. However, the recent easing of U.S. export curbs on chipmaking equipment has created a more favorable environment for Samsung to bolster the plant’s production competitiveness.

In December last year, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security scrapped the validated end-user program for Samsung’s China fabs and shifted to allowing annual approvals of chipmaking equipment exports. This effectively lowered regulatory hurdles, as Samsung no longer needs to seek approval each time it brings U.S.-made equipment into its semiconductor plants in China.

“If regulations are eased, the Xi’an plant will be able to produce not only legacy products but also more advanced ones, enabling a more effective response to rising memory demand,” an industry official said.