South Korea's exports to China fell 26 percent in the first half of this year on Beijing's falling demand for chips and display items amid a global economic slowdown, data showed Friday.
Outbound shipments to China came to US$60.18 billion during the first six months of the year, compared with $81.38 billion, according to the data by the industry ministry.
Sales of major export items tumbled, with semiconductors to China sinking 39.8 percent and display items diving 47.9 percent. Exports of petrochemicals also went down 23.9 percent on-year in the first half.
The decrease was attributable to China's weak exports of its major IT products to the rest of the world amid a global economic slowdown, which reduced China's demand for South Korean chips and intermediary goods, the ministry said.
On a monthly basis, South Korea reported an on-year fall in exports to China for 13 consecutive months through June and suffered a trade deficit for nine months in a row.
China is South Korea's No. 1 trading partner, accounting for 23.2 percent of South Korea's total exports in the first half of 2023. But this year's figure marked a 1.9 percentage-point fall from 25.1 percent in the same period a year earlier.
South Korea's exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also fell 20.4 percent in the first half due to the nations' weak demand for chips and display products.
But South Korea saw exports to the United States and the European Union grow 0.3 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, in the first half.
"The top economic priority for the second half is the expansion of exports," Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said. "The government will expedite signing a trade and investment promotion framework with emerging nations and will closely monitor the difficulties of exporters."
Source: Yonhap News Agency