A survey showed that Chinese people’s preference for Korean products has declined significantly over the past three years.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 8th, when the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) asked 10 major Chinese cities whether they had purchased Korean products in the past five years, only 43.1% of the total respondents answered ‘yes’. . In 2020, 78.8% responded positively.
By age group, those in their 20s and 30s showed the greatest decrease. Those in their 20s decreased from 83.3% to 41.2%, and those in their 30s from 84.8% to 40.4%. By region, it was most noticeable in Shanghai and Beijing, and showed a decrease of nearly half.
During the same period, the positive perception of Korean products decreased by 5 percentage points (P) from 59.5% to 54.5%. On the other hand, negative perceptions this year were tallied at 10%, up 6.6%p.
Regarding this, the Korea International Trade Association cited ‘reduction in human exchanges between Korea and China’ and ‘changes in Chinese consumer behavior’ as the causes due to the Corona 19 pandemic over the past three years.
In particular, as the Chinese government’s high-intensity quarantine measures were rapidly deployed during the pandemic, overseas travel was restricted and imports decreased due to supply disruptions, resulting in changes in Chinese consumption patterns.
In addition, the Korea International Trade Association said, “In order to increase sales of consumer goods in China, Korea-China relations must be improved.
As a country’s image has a significant influence on consumer decisions, it is explained that the recent weakening of Korea-China relations may have affected product sales. More than 30% of respondents who said they hadn’t purchased a Korean product in 5 years cited ‘Korea’s national image’ as the reason.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai branch of the International Trade Association conducted the survey on 1,000 people in 10 major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Chengdu, from December of last year to January of last year.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.