Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Shilla Seoul on Sunday. (Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Shilla Seoul on Sunday.

During their meeting, Lee expressed gratitude for the Chinese government's support for Samsung affiliates during the COVID-19 crisis, including exempting them from the lockdown measures.

Saying the cooperation between Samsung and China represented the Korea-China relationship in microcosm, Li encouraged the tech giant to further investment in his country.

Li, traveling to Seoul to attend the Korea-China-Japan summit the next day, met with Lee for the first time in 19 years, after their meeting in Samsung's Suwon and Giheung offices in Korea in 2005. (Samsung Electronics)