**South Korea-China diplomatic engagement centers on President Lee Jae-Myung’s push to restore bilateral ties after years of strain, with economic cooperation, supply-chain stability, and Korean Peninsula stability as core priorities.** Lee has met Xi Jinping at least twice since taking office in 2025—first on the sidelines of the November 2025 APEC summit in Gyeongju and again during a January 2026 state visit to Beijing—where the leaders oversaw multiple memorandums on trade, technology, transportation, and intellectual property while agreeing to pursue annual high-level talks and dialogue on North Korea. These developments reflect Seoul’s pragmatic balancing of its U.S. alliance with deeper engagement of its largest trading partner, amid ongoing regional tensions and Lee’s public emphasis on making 2026 a turning point for “full-scale restoration.” Trader assessments of any near-term meeting probability will hinge on scheduled multilateral forums such as future APEC gatherings, bilateral working-level progress, North Korea-related diplomacy, and Lee’s domestic political calendar.