[THE INVESTOR] South Korean companies must focus more on individual Chinese consumers rather than Chinese producers to keep their exports growing as Chinese consumers’ spending has nearly quadrupled in just 10 years, and will continue to grow, a report said Aug. 18.

“As the Chinese market continues to grow, along with the income of Chinese consumers, it will become more important to study changes in the Chinese market and develop new, tailored products that will meet Chinese consumers’ tastes,” said the Korea International Trade Association.

According to KITA, China’s per capita spending came to US$7,924 in 2015, up about 380 percent from $2,083 in 2006.

Also, China’s consumer market has been growing at more than 10 percent over the past 10 years, with overall consumer spending spiking 10.3 percent on-year to 15.6 trillion yuan (US$2.35 trillion) in the first six months of this year, it noted.

China is still the world’s single largest importer of South Korean products, but shipments of industrial parts and materials account for far more than half of overall South Korean exports to China.

In the January-June period, shipments of industrial parts and materials, mostly used to produce Chinese products, amounted to $39.7 billion, accounting for 68 percent of $58.38 billion in total South Korean exports to China, according to the trade ministry.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)