'China's reopening likely to help South Korean economy rebound'

SEOUL: China's reopening from Covid restrictions and its economic recovery are expected to help boost South Korea's economic growth and exports, which are highly related to the neighbouring country, a report showed Sunday.

According to the report published by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), global institutions have predicted that the Chinese economy will expand 5.1 per cent in 2023 from a year earlier, up from a 3 per cent growth in the previous year, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Thanks to the reopening from its years long zero-Covid policy and Beijing's stimulus packages, the world's second-largest economy will likely post a 6.9 per cent on-year growth in the second quarter and 2.6 per cent for the first quarter.

Should that prediction materialise, the robust growth in the Chinese economy will likely raise South Korea's economic growth by an additional 0.16 percentage point and its exports by 0.55 percentage point this year, the report said.

The South Korean government expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to expand around 1.6 percent in 2023, down from a 2.6 per cent gain in 2022. Its 2023 exports are expected to decrease 4.5 percent on-year, compared with a growth of 6.1 per cent last year.

"South Korea needs to make the most of China's reopening and tackle the Chinese domestic market in a way to get over sluggish exports," the report said.

South Korea's economy is largely affected by the fluctuation of the Chinese economy as the neighbouring country is its biggest trade partner.

Shipments to China reached US$155.8 billion in 2022, accounting for 22.8 per cent of Korea's total exports of $683.8 billion.