South Korea auto parts import from China jumps

According to a report from South Korea trade commission announced on April 4, with regards to auto electronics products and materials, imports from China jumped from 7.7% in 2000 to 20.3% last year and imports from Japan dropped to 25.6% from a pinnacle of 28.4% in 2003. It is predicted that import from China will exceed that of Japan in 2009.

Analysts says auto parts import volume were 23.1 billion dollars (+31.7%), which led to a decline in favorable balance of trade to China to 20.9 billion dollars (-10.2%).The drop in exchange rate paralyzed the competitiveness of South Korean enterprises, and more and more enterprises choose to purchase cheaper Chinese products, which in turn, bring up the import volume of auto parts from China. Besides, the high-quality products provided by the transnational giants in China also triggered this growth.

South Korean trade commission calls for improving the competitiveness of the auto parts industry through the combination of technical development and investment ascension.