South Korean media: "Made in China" is becoming increasingly popular, and South Korea feels the pressure!
On December 24, the South Korean media outlet Etoday published an article stating that according to an assessment, China is rapidly achieving export market diversification and continuously enhancing its dominant position in manufacturing. This puts pressure on manufacturing competitor countries such as South Korea.
A report titled "Assessing the Acceleration of Recent Chinese Export Destination Diversification," released by the Bank of Korea, analyzes that "even if the United States partially relaxes tariff policies, the strategic competition between the US and China may continue, and China will continue to strive for export destination diversification, thereby further expanding its influence in the global supply chain."
The Bank of Korea pointed out that export destination diversification will alleviate the decline in exports to the US in the short term and further strengthen the influence of "Made in China" in regions outside the US in the medium to long term.
In fact, China's export growth has consistently been on the rise, increasing from 5.6% in the first quarter of this year to 6.1% in the second quarter, and further rising to 6.5% in the third quarter. The reason why overall exports have not been affected by US tariffs is because China has quickly expanded its sales channels in other markets.
In the second and third quarters of this year, China's exports to the US plummeted by 26%, but exports to non-US markets, including the EU, ASEAN, and Africa, increased by 12% during the same period. This shift has led to a significant decline in the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), which measures the concentration of China's export markets.
A representative from the Bank of Korea said, "As China accelerates its export destination diversification in recent times, the reliance of other countries on China's imports is rapidly increasing. If the competitiveness of China's manufacturing sector is further enhanced through advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, China's position as the 'world factory' may become even more solid, thus expanding China's global leadership in manufacturing. During this process, other manufacturing countries such as South Korea, Germany, and Japan will face increasingly severe challenges."
Original: toutiao.com/article/1852379139323911/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.