The share of South Korean products in China’s import market has plunged to a one-digit figure for the first time in three years. It comes after China’s protest over the installment of the THAAD antimissile system on the Korean Peninsula partially rattled South Korea-China trade.
 
The Korea International Trade Association’s Beijing office unveiled on Monday a report that assessed China’s economic and trading activity in the first half of the year and made projections for the second half of the year.
 
According to the report, South Korean products continued to occupy the largest share in China’s import market but such share fell to nine-point-four percent.
 
Since posting nine-point-seven percent in 2014, South Korean products’ share in China’s import market stood at ten-point-four percent in 2015 and ten percent in 2016.
 
An official at the Beijing office said that South Korea’s exports to China are expected to continue a relatively strong performance in the second half thanks to brisk semiconductor shipments and a technical rebound resulting from a rise in global oil prices.
 
However, the official said mid- and long-term prospects remain uncertain due to China’s prolonged opposition to the THAAD deployment and the enhancement in Chinese goods’ competitiveness.