China's foreign trade center Yangshan Port
Today, August 24, 2022, marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea.
Before the establishment of diplomatic relations, the trade volume between China and South Korea was less than 5 billion US dollars. From January to July 2022, it exceeded 200 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 40 times.
According to Korea Trade Association statistics, 30 years after the two countries established diplomatic relations, South Korea's exports to China have surged more than 160 times. China has always been South Korea's largest trading partner for 20 years.
South Korea’s exports to China in 2021 were more than 160 billion U.S. dollars, while in 1991, the year before diplomatic relations were normalized, it was only a measly 1 billion U.S. dollars.
During the same period, South Korea's exports to the United States last year were less than 100 billion US dollars, an increase of only 5 times in 30 years, and exports to Japan were 30 billion US dollars, an increase of only more than 2 times.
In 1992, South Korea's deficit with China was US$1 billion, but it turned into a surplus the next year, and has continued to maintain a surplus for the next 30 years. From January to July this year, South Korea’s export surplus with China was nearly US$4 billion.
According to the General Administration of Customs of China, China’s exports to South Korea in 2021 will be US$150 billion, accounting for 5% of China’s overall exports.
China’s exports to the United States are US$570 billion. The United States is China’s largest export market, followed by Hong Kong (US$350 billion), Japan (US$166 billion), South Korea (US$150 billion), and Vietnam ($138 billion).
Relevant expert analysis shows that the economic and trade cooperation between China and South Korea is highly complementary and there is still a lot of room for development in the future.
