South Korea recorded the biggest fall in exports to China among major exporters to the country in the first quarter, China’s trade data showed Sunday.
Exports to China plunged 28 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier due mainly to a sharp decline in semiconductor shipments, the data showed.
In the three months ended March 30, Korean exports to China fell to US$38.2 billion compared to the same period of last year. Korea accounted for 6.2 percent of China’s overall imports, down from 8.1 percent, during the same period, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.
China’s overall imports declined 7 percent on-year to $617.12 billion in the first three months, the data showed.
Korea posted the biggest on-year drop in exports to the neighboring country in the first quarter among 23 countries and regions the China customs office regards as China’s major trading partners.
In the first quarter of 2022, South Korea ranked second in terms of the value of exports to China after Taiwan.
But in this past quarter, it ranked fifth after the United States, which exported $46.4 billion worth of products to China, Taiwan with $44.4 billion, Australia with $39.1 billion and Japan with $38.6 billion.
Korea’s overall semiconductor exports plummeted 40 percent in the March quarter from a year ago amid lower demand for chips and their falling prices, according to the Korea International Trade Association and the Bank of Korea.
In particular, Korea’s chip shipments to China plunged 44.5 percent in the first quarter compared to a year earlier.
Source: Yonhap News Agency