The Republic of Korea (ROK) opened a new consulate general in Hubei Province Monday, its first consulate general in central China and also its eighth in China.

The new consulate will cover affairs in Hubei and neighboring Hunan, Henan and Jiangxi provinces, said Ohm Ki-sung, ROK's first consul general in Wuhan.

The main functions of the consulate were to provide services to citizens and companies of ROK, to issue visas and to promote exchanges and cooperation between ROK and central China.` "The market of central China is so huge, but comparatively speaking, the relationship between this part of China and ROK is not that intensive, so we should try very hard to enhance this relationship quickly in the fields of trade, economy, culture and education," Ohm Ki-sung said.

"We wish to attract more and more Korean enterprises to central China for development and also to help companies of the two countries here to better communicate and cooperate," he said.

Yu Woo-ik, the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to China, said at the opening ceremony that the establishment of the consulate was an important milestone of the new strategic cooperative partnership of the two countries.

"South Korea and central China have great potential for development in the future. The opening of the consulate here reveals South Korea's great attention to central China and its willingness to cooperate," he said.

ROK has more consular organizations in China than any other foreign country, with consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Xi'an and Wuhan.

The number of ROK companies in China has climbed to almost 50,000 and the total investment in China has exceeded 45 billion U.S. dollars over the last five years.