BEIJING (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.