Nearly a decade after an unofficial ban on K-pop performances in mainland China was imposed, Beijing appears to be easing up on South Korea’s cultural phenomenon.
A South Korean boy band, Epex, is now gearing up for a concert in Fuzhou in May, raising expectations that Beijing may ease restrictions on K-pop culture on the mainland, Yonhap News reports.
The timing may be a coincidence, but it adds to growing evidence that China is seeking to improve relations with regional partners as countries grapple with increasingly hostile and unpredictable trade policies in the US.
In March, trade chiefs from South Korea, China and Japan met in Seoul, where they renewed calls for an open, fair flow of goods and pledged to deepen economic ties.
The concert, scheduled for May 31, marks the first performance in nine years in mainland China by an all-Korean K-pop group, Yonhap said. K-pop stars with foreign nationalities have occasionally appeared on Chinese television shows, it added.
Epex’s management, C9 Entertainment, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.