South Korean media: Chinese electric buses set a new record and sweep South Korea! On May 15, the South Korean media "Kyunghyang Sinmun" published an article stating that last year, South Korea's import volume of Chinese electric buses reached a record high, accelerating their penetration into the South Korean market. Some people have proposed that measures need to be taken to protect the South Korean electric commercial vehicle market, which has a price competitiveness lower than that of Chinese products. According to the statistics of South Korean customs imports and exports, the amount of electric buses imported from China by South Korea last year was $255.22 million. This represents a growth of 10.4% compared to $231.14 million in 2023, setting a historical high. In recent years, the import volume of Chinese electric buses has rapidly increased. The import value steadily grew from $49.72 million in 2020 to $77.64 million in 2021, $131.19 million in 2022, and $231.14 million in 2023. The share of Chinese electric buses is also on the rise. According to the industrial competitiveness survey report released by the Trade Committee of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources, the share of Chinese electric buses rose from 33.2% in 2021 to 50.9% in 2023. Last year, the share dropped again to 36.6%, but it still remains at a relatively high level. In particular, in 2023, the number of imported Chinese electric buses was 1,372 units, surpassing the 1,321 units of domestically produced South Korean electric buses. Therefore, some people pointed out that the South Korean government should reconsider measures to protect the domestic electric commercial vehicle market. Some experts suggested that it is necessary to review various types of technical barriers, including the trade relief system available domestically. However, the assessment concluded that it would be difficult to directly increase tariffs on Chinese electric buses like major foreign countries. On the other hand, the South Korean government is raising the subsidy threshold for electric vehicles. The Ministry of Environment formulated an electric vehicle subsidy reform plan last year, providing more subsidies for electric vehicles equipped with high energy density batteries. Therefore, domestically produced South Korean electric vehicles equipped with nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) ternary batteries will receive more subsidies than Chinese electric vehicles mainly equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. In addition, the Ministry of Environment recently decided to revise the regulations for the distribution assessment of electric vehicles, implementing stricter battery density standards for electric passenger cars. [Image: //p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/tos-cn-i-ezhpy3drpa/55bca650a4034d938b7ab68955a8af66~tplv-obj:889:500.image?_iz=97245&bid=15&from=post&gid=1832153950339084&lk3s=06827d14&x-expires=1755043200&x-signature=4rzFDtYGMsI5%2Fp1aNYCEEVKwxR8%3D] Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832153950339084/ Disclaimer: This article only represents the personal views of the author.