South Korea and China plan to build a joint industrial complex near a border area with North Korea, according to South Korean Ambassador to China Kim Jang-soo on Saturday.

Kim made the remarks on Friday during his visit to the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China, where ethnic Koreans account for about 30 percent of the population, the Yanbian Daily newspaper reported.

Kim held talks with Zhang Anshun, the Communist Party secretary of Yanbian, during which they discussed ways to build the complex, the report said, without saying when construction would begin.

Kim told Zhang that bilateral relations between South Korea and China "are at an all-time high."

About 370 South Korean companies are operating in Yanbian, according to the report.(Yonhap)