BEIJING, May 26 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Qiang

told Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee on Sunday that China welcomed

further investment by the Korean conglomerate, state news agency

Xinhua reported, as foreign businesses in the Chinese market

struggle to navigate geopolitical uncertainties.

The meeting in Seoul between China's second highest-ranking

official and the Korean executive took place ahead of a summit

between Li, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first three-way talks by the

Asian neighbours in more than four years.

Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) has over the past six years

invested $24 billion in the Chinese market, a company executive

was quoted as saying in a November report by state-run China

Daily.

But the Korean tech giant has seen its business face growing

challenges amid U.S.-China tensions as it navigates export

controls Washington has rolled out to cut off China's access to

cutting-edge chips.

Li's choice to meet with a Samsung executive echoed earlier

remarks the Chinese leader gave during a bilateral meeting with

Yoon, where he encouraged more Korean enterprises to invest and

do business in China and urged Beijing and Seoul to cooperate on

maintaining the stability of industrial supply chains.