Four out of 10 South Korean exporting companies expect their faltering exports stemming from a slowdown in China and Europe to bounce back as early as the second half of next year, a poll showed Thursday.

According to the survey of 500 exporters by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 40 percent of the respondents said their sluggish overseas shipments will begin to recover in the second half of 2013. Another 17.2 percent expected their exports to rebound from the second half of 2014.

“Exports are likely to remain sluggish for the time being, as China’s economic slowdown continues, contrary to expectations that it will recover in the second half of the year,” the KCCI said.

“Also, there is no sign of a solution to the European fiscal crisis.” 

China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner. South Korean exports to China represented 24.2 percent of total overseas shipments worth $555.2 billion last year. Slightly over 10 percent of South Korean exports went to the United States.

According to the findings, exports of the polled companies are expected to fall an average of 4.5 percent on-year in the October-December period. (Yonhap News)