SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won will fly to China this week to visit the group's business operations there as part of his efforts to beef up "on-site managerial activity," the group said Tuesday.

Chey, who was recently freed from jail on a special presidential pardon, plans to depart for China on Wednesday and inspect a production line of chip-making unit SK hynix Inc. in the southern Chinese city of Wuxi.

He will then move to Hubei Province for a visit to a plant run by Wuhan Petrochemical, the group's joint venture with China's state-run oil company, Sinopec. SK Group didn't say how long Chey will stay in China.

During his stay in China, Chey also plans to meet with provincial and central government officials to discuss future business opportunities in the world's second-largest economy.

SK, South Korea's third-largest family-run conglomerate, said Chey has decided to make a trip to China since strengthening business ties with China is vital to bolstering the group's market position.

Officials said Chey's planned trip is in line with a government drive to rev up the slowing economy, hit especially hard by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that has claimed 36 lives since its outbreak in late May and has chilled consumer spending.

Since being freed from prison about two weeks ago, Chey has been scurrying to visit SK's domestic plants in an effort to respond to government calls to create more jobs and help boost spending. Last year, the top court upheld a four-year jail term against Chey for embezzling company money.

Earlier Monday, he attended the dedication ceremony for SK hynix's new 15 trillion-won ($12.4 billion) chip plant in Icheon, south of Seoul, as part of a 46 trillion-won investment plan to build three new chip lines by 2024. (Yonhap)