‘China Insider’ Strategy
Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group, is making big moves to find a breakthrough to the group’s Chinese business which has deadlocked since China’s fire storm sparked by South Korea’s decision to deploy the THAAD System.
According to industry sources on May 28, Chey finished his business trip to China for three nights and four nights, and returned to Gimpo Airport on a private jet on April 27. Earlier, embarking on a business trip to China, Chey resumed on-the-scene management in China in eight months.
Prior to attending the Shanghai Forum which was the main official purpose of this trip, Chey took care of his Chinese projects by visiting Beijing and meeting with Jerry Wu, the new head of SK China.
It seems that in this trip to China, chairman Chey asked Wu and other employees in charge of the Chinese to promote localization strategies. It is so-called “China Insider” strategy through which the SK Group operates like a Chinese company in China. China Insider also includes measures such as strengthening the portion and roles of Chinese business in the group's main business. The replacement of the head of SK China, the group’s holding company in China, in four years was interpreted as an extension of a decision to strengthen its localization strategy.
In addition, some analysts said that chairman Chey would concentrate on forming and strengthening a human network with senior Chinese officials via the Shanghai Forum. In fact, it is said that many high-ranking officials of the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Government attended the forum and naturally met with chairman Chey.
Before this trip, chairman Chey made a lot of efforts for global on-spot management such as flying into Japan for the acquisition of Toshiba’s semiconductor business division and meeting with Toshiba executives last month