Taiwan is more reliant on China than South Korea is, as China accounted for nearly 40 percent of Taiwan’s exports last year, data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) showed.
The nation’s reliance on China is increasing as exports to China and Hong Kong, Taiwan’s main export destinations, increased to 39.4 percent of overall exports last year, compared with 32.1 percent in 2002, the ministry’s statistics, which were released on Friday, showed.
By contrast, South Korea’s exports to China and Hong Kong accounted for 30.4 percent of its total exports last year.
Nearly 63.3 percent of Taiwan’s exports were shipped to the nation’s four largest export destinations last year, while 52.4 percent of South Korea’s exports were sent to the same locations, indicating that Taiwan had become more reliant on its major export partners than South Korea.
The items Taiwan exported were also more concentrated than South Korea’s, the ministry said.
The top five export items, led by integrated circuits, accounted for 38 percent of Taiwan’s total exports, while South Korea’s top five products amounted to 35.9 percent.
Taiwan’s exports grew at an annual composite growth rate of 8.3 percent over the past 10 years, reaching US$301.1 billion last year — a slower pace than South Korea’s 12.9 percent average growth rate to US$548.1 billion over the same period, the ministry said.
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