What products does South Korea import from China?
The top three commodities imported by South Korea from China are mechanical and electrical products, base metals and products, and chemical products. The import volumes in 2018 were US$50.41 billion, US$12.17 billion and US$11.46 billion respectively. Mechanical and electrical products increased by 10.3%, base metals and products decreased by 6.1%, and chemical products increased by 26.4%. Accounting for 47.4%, 11.4% and 10.8% of South Korea's total imports from China respectively
From a comparison of "South Korea's imports from the global market" and "South Korea's imports from China", South Korea's products imported from the global market There is a certain gap between products imported from China, which is mainly reflected in mineral products. Specifically, the trade volume of mineral products imported by South Korea from China is only US$1.181 billion, accounting for only 1.1% of the trade volume of South Korea's imported products from China. It is far lower than the proportion of mineral products imported by South Korea from the world, mainly because China is also a mineral producer. A large consumer of resources, many mineral resources are in short supply.
In general, in the Korean market, Chinese products continue to maintain their advantages in labor-intensive products such as textile raw materials, furniture and ceramics, and these products account for more than 35% of the Korean import market. Furthermore, in these products, China’s main competitors are Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia.
Extended information
80% of kimchi imported into South Korea comes from small towns in Shandong
According to media reports on December 29, 90% of kimchi imported into South Korea comes from China. Among these 90%, Shandong’s kimchi export volume ranks first in the country, and most of Shandong’s kimchi comes from Renzhao Town, Pingdu City, which is called the strongest kimchi town.
Vegetable farmers in Renzhao Town pay more attention to Korean weather than local weather, and often decide the planting area of cabbage based on Korean weather. In October, South Korea encountered a "kimchi crisis". The price of cabbage remained high, and vegetable farmers were reluctant to receive orders.
"When I heard that Korean kimchi was affected by the disaster, I looked at the cabbage patch 5 times a day and wished it could grow faster."