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An article published in the Asia Daily on August 19, titled: Survey: South Korea's export growth rate has been slower than that of mainland China and Taiwan in the past 10 years. A survey shows that in the past 10 years, South Korea's export growth rate has been slower than that of mainland China and Taiwan, and the export value of major export products such as electronic equipment and automobiles has been overtaken. The Korea Economic Association (hereinafter referred to as KAEA) analyzed the statistical data of the International Monetary Fund and the Korea Trade Association and released the "Export Analysis of Four East Asian Countries and Regions (South Korea, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan)" report on the 19th. The report shows that from 2013 to 2023, South Korea's exports increased by 13% in 10 years, mainland China and Taiwan increased by 54.8% and 36% respectively, and Japan only increased by 0.3%. In addition, from 2013 to 2023, South Korea's export (market) share fell by 0.3 percentage points (to 2.7%), while mainland China and Taiwan's export share rose by 2.7 percentage points (to 14.2%) and 0.2 percentage points (to 1.8%) respectively. Japan had the largest decline, falling by 0.7 percentage points to 3.1%. The Korea Economic Association said that among South Korea's four major export products (electronic equipment, automobiles, semiconductors, and machinery), the export share of electronic equipment and automobiles has gradually shifted to mainland China and Taiwan, China, causing concerns in the industry. In the field of electronic equipment, Taiwan's exports reached US$206.3 billion in 2023, an increase of 80.7% over 2013. During the same period, South Korea's exports reached US$171.3 billion, with a growth rate of only 26.4%. South Korea's automobile exports, which were far ahead in 2013, were also quickly reversed by China. Based on 2023, South Korea's exports are only half of China's. The Korea Economic Association analyzed that China's automobile exports increased by 228.8% in 10 years, while South Korea's increase was only 26.2%. China, as a "latecomer" in the automobile industry, can be called a "rising star" in the new energy track. South Korea's global market export competition with other countries such as China is becoming increasingly fierce, especially in South Korea's traditional pillar industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, and electronics, and the export similarity index with China has increased. The export similarity index is mainly used to measure the economic structure characteristics or commodity competition relationship between two countries. The value range is 0 to 1. The closer the value is to 1, the more similar the export product structure of the two countries is, and the more intense the competition is. Specifically, in the automotive field, South Korea and Japan have the highest export similarity index of 0.915; in the semiconductor field, South Korea and China have the highest export similarity index of 0.91. A person related to the Korea Economic Association said: "As the export structure becomes more and more similar, South Korea has been surpassed by China in many cutting-edge technology fields. In terms of core raw materials, there is a high degree of dependence on China. The superposition of various factors makes Korean companies feel tremendous pressure." (Author Gu Youting)▲