Hong Kong replaces China as Korea's largest trade surplus market

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- Hong Kong has replaced China as South Korea's largest
overseas market in terms of trade surplus, reflecting a shakeup in the
international trade order amid the protracted economic crisis, a government
report said Sunday.
South Korea amassed a trade surplus of US$2 billion with Hong Kong until Feb. 20
this year, the largest of any of the country's trading partners, according to a
report released by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
South Korea's trade surplus with mainland China totaled $1.73 billion in the same
period, it noted.
In 2008, Seoul's trade surplus with Hong Kong amounted to $17.5 billion, compared
with a surplus of $14.5 billion recorded in trade with China. As recently as
2007, China was the source of South Korea's largest trade surplus with $18.7
billion.
The ministry attributed the numbers to transitions in the manufacturing industry
across China and the business slowdown around Hong Kong.
Reflecting the trend, South Korea's exports to Hong Kong increased 1.7 percent to
$2.19 billion this year, whereas imports from the Chinese territory plunged over
40 percent to $198 million.
"The surplus with Hong Kong was largely due to the business downturn in Chinese
industrial hubs surrounding Hong Kong," a ministry official said.
It was reported that some 1,000 factories in China's Guangdong Province near Hong
Kong went bankrupt, affecting the region's light industries and processing trade.
Meanwhile, South Korea's trade deficit with Japan fell 35.6 percent to $2.75
billion this year from $4.28 billion in the same period of last year.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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