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China Likely to be No.1 Exporter to Korea, Leaving Japan
Behind

According to the Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), China is expected to become the largest exporter to Korea. It will replace Japan that has kept its status as No.1 exporter for over 30 years, since the late 1970s.

A source from KOTRA stated that China was Korea’s third largest importer in 2003, became the No.2 exporter in 2004, and finally grabbed the No.1 spot last August. The source said that the growth ratio of Chinese products dominating Korean import markets has rapidly increased.

In 1992, the Korean market share of Chinese goods was just 4.5%, but increasingly surged to 11.4% in 2002, 12.2% in 2003, 13.1% in 2004, 14.7% in 2005, and 15.6% in 2006.

KOTRA said that recently, as opposed to tardy growth rate of Korean market share by Japanese goods, China has dominated 20% of the Korean import market. Its average export growth rate stands at above 20 percent, surpassing Japan’s growth rates of export to Korea.

The association forecast that this trend will likely keep the same pace, saying that China has obviously shifted its previous labor-intensive products, such as textiles, agricultural goods, and minerals, into technology-intensive goods such as computers, semiconductors, and wireless communication equipment.

Since China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, Korean exports to its neighbor have been slowing, but the growth rate of imports from China has continuously increased.
/ 입력시간: 2007. 01.26. 08:24