SEOUL: South Korea expanded its presence in China’s import market in the first half of the year thanks to strong demand for its semiconductors and consumer goods, data showed Monday.
China, the world’s No. 2 economy, imported $82.8 billion worth of South Korean products in the January-June period, which accounted for 10.7 percent of Beijing’s total imports valued at $775.8 billion, according to the data by the Korea International Trade Association.
The comparable figures were 9.3 percent for the same period a year earlier, 9.7 percent for all of 2014, and 9.2 percent for 2013. It marks the first time that the first-half share has exceeded the 10-percent mark.
South Korean exports to China shrank 7.2 percent on-year in the six-month period, but it didn’t affect its market share because China’s imports fell at a faster clip of 19.1 percent, KITA said.
U.S. products took up the second-largest 9.2 percent share of China’s import market over the cited period, followed by Japan and Taiwan with 9 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.
Stronger demand for semiconductors as well some consumer goods largely contributed to South Korea’s higher market presence in China, with imports of South Korea-made memory chips jumped 16.7 percent on-year over the cited period, according to the data.
