South Korea on Thursday approved plans for massive investment in China by two leading display panel makers, paving the way for them to expand their presence in the rapidly growing market. A government committee headed by Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan gave the green light to the multi-billion-dollar projects by Samsung Electronics Co and LG Display Co, the prime minister's office said in a statement.
The committee cited the need for the two world's leading LCD makers "to do businesses in a rapidly growing LCD TV market in China and to strengthen business co-operation between the two countries". Samsung Electronics in October announced a 2.6 trillion won (2.2 billion dollar) investment in China's eastern city of Suzhou to set up a joint venture to produce a new LCD panel plant. LG Display said in August that it would plough in four billion dollars in a joint venture in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to churn out 8th-generation LCD panels.