"If there is no China, South Korea has 10 years of trade deficit"

Zhang Jing, a special reporter in Korea in Korea

The statistics released by the South Korean Customs Office on July 6 showed that in May 2022, South Korea's imported kimchi was 248.45 million tons, an increase of 17.4%over the same period last year. Affected by Korean media's "difficulty" in Chinese kimchi before, South Korea's imports on Chinese kimchi have shrunk, but the import volume in May suddenly increased by 40%compared with April. Some analysts believe that the high price caused by the recent rise in raw materials has allowed low -priced Chinese kimchi to be favored by Korean consumers again. At present, the price of Korean cabbage is 83%higher than the same period last year. The raw materials for making kimchi such as radish, green onions, and onions also rose about 50%. The price of kimchi in China is basically 1/3 of Korean kimchi.

The Yonhap News Agency issued a report on the 7th, stating that as South Korea's trade hit the biggest deficit in the first half of this year, the controversy around "decoupled with China" was also increasing. Cui Xiangmu, the chief economic secretary of the Presidential Office of South Korea, previously said: "In the past 20 years, we have ended in the era of exports to China." In the case of South Korea's high dependence on China, Cui Xiangmu's statement caused "might trigger Sino -South Korean trade friction". Cui Peigen, a professor of economics at the founding of South Korea, said that in the past 20 years, if the trade surplus to China is removed, South Korea's foreign trade has 10 years of deficit. "Decomple to China" may cause South Korea to become a trade deficit again. Data show that South Korea has achieved a trade surplus for 24 consecutive years from 1998 to 2021. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 1992, in 1993, South Korea achieved a trade surplus to China, and continued to make a continuous surplus by 2021.

It is reported that since the new South Korean government came to power in 2022, South Korea has formed a trade deficit in China for two months. Some analysts believe that on the one hand, it is affected by the epidemic and economic adjustment of China's new crown pneumonia, and there are also voices that the decline in the competitiveness of South Korean export products is also an important reason for the slowdown in exports to China. The recent report issued by the Korea International Trade Association suggested that while Korean companies are promoting the diversification of the export market, they should also pay attention to China's industrial adjustment and market upgrade, and adopt a more refined export strategy to China. ▲

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