Snack-maker Nongshim on Wednesday posted $180 million in sales in the Chinese market last year, the highest ever.

The company hopes to gross $650 million overseas this year, with more than one-third coming from China.

Nongshim’s China sales account for 37 percent of the company’s $490 million global gross sales last year, the company said.

The figure showed a 28.5 percent growth from 2013, thanks to the increasing popularity of Korean pop culture depicting Korean foods. The company’s iconic Shin Ramyun was on the “Best in China” list by a local research institute, the company said.

“China has become the largest overseas market for Nongshim and we have decided to make the Chinese division our top priority,” a company official said.

The company has set its sales goal for China at $235 million this year, and $650 million globally.

“This year we have Baeksansu, bottled water taken from Mount Baekdusan, which is expected to generate $28 million. We are also planning to reinforce our sales network and marketing in the southwestern part of China, on top of our e-commerce sector, which marked 128 percent growth last year” the official said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)