By Li Hongmei

South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye starts her four-day visit to China on Thursday.

It will be her second overseas trip since taking office more than three months ago. The visit is intended to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, and both leaders will also focus on forging a stronger economic partnership.

The South Korean leader will take a big business delegation to China, including executives from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Hyundai Motor although it was unclear if any deals will be signed. Park's office expects a bilateral free trade pact under negotiation to be discussed.

China is South Korea's largest trading partner, and the two countries are also in the midst of free trade talks with the next round expected to be held in July.

Trade volume between China and South Korea peaked to more than US$ 250 billion in 2012, a record high, if compared with that in 1992, when China and South Korea established diplomatic relationship. The bilateral trade then was merely around US$ 5 billion.

South Korean imports to China overtook Japan last September, Singapore's DBS Bank said in a recent research note.

Hyundai and its Kia Motors affiliate are now the third biggest seller of cars in China, ahead of their Japanese rivals. Volkswagen AG and General Motors are the top two.

South Korean investment has also poured into China, exceeding US$40 billion since 1988.

After meetings in Beijing, Park will also visit Xi'an, an industrial city in northwestern China where Samsung, the world's top technology firm by revenue, is building a US $7 billion chip complex. Hyundai has just completed its third plant in Beijing.