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China buys fewer Korean goods amid waning perception: report
The number of Chinese consumers who bought Korean products plummeted last year amid China's falling perception of Korea-made commodities, according to a survey conducted by the Korea International Trade Association.
The survey, released Sunday, found that the percentage of Chinese consumers who responded that they bought Korean products at least once over the past five years fell to 43.1 percent from 78.7 percent in 2020.
During the same period, no changes in consumption were found among top-selling products, including beauty and fashion products, as well as food.
The plunge in purchases appears to follow the waning perception of Korea-made goods in China. In the survey, 54.5 percent of the respondents selected the option “positive” when asked about how they think of Korea-made goods, while 10 percent of them selected the “negative” option.
Compared to a 2020 survey, people who responded positively to Korean goods declined by 5 percentage points, while those who responded negatively increased by 6.6 percentage points
As for the reasons given for not purchasing Korean products, they cited negative consumer reviews (35.9 percent), Korea’s national image (34.6 percent) and low product competitiveness (33.6 percent).
Complaints about product quality, after-sales services and high pricing also greatly increased compared to the pre-pandemic period, the survey found

