In this important area, South Korea ’s dependence on China and Japan is completely reversed

"Automobile parts from China are occupying more and more Korean markets, especially electric vehicle components almost depend on China."

South Korea's "National Daily" reported on the 15th that South Korea's dependence on Sino -Japanese automobile components has completely reversed. Statistics released by the South Korean Automobile Industry Association show that the proportion of automotive parts imported from China has risen from 1.8%in 2000 to 34.9%in 2021. In 2000, the import ratio of automotive parts produced in Japan accounted for 45.5%of the overall automotive components in South Korea, but by 2021, it had fallen to 11.6%.

On key components of electric vehicles, 100%graphite, 93%manganese, 82%cobalt, 65%nickel and 59%lithium imported from the Korean automobile industry imported from China. In April of this year, due to the poor exports of the epidemic in some areas, the supply of parts such as the "airbag control unit" of the Korean automobile industry was interrupted, and some automobile production lines in Guangzhou stopped running.

Although South Korea ’s domestic demands diversify the production bases of components and shift their factories in China to Southeast Asia and other places, there are very few Korean companies that really move their factories out of China.

Source: Global Times Special Reporter Zhang Jing

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