South Korea’s economy needs to adapt urgently to rising competition from China, the country’s finance minister has warned, as its biggest exporters battle for market share in sectors ranging from chips to shipbuilding and display panels.Choi Sang-mok said in an interview that South Korea had gone from being a beneficiary of Chinese growth to an economic rival and that his country needed to diversify its export-led economy.
“Our economic relationship with China has changed — rather than being a beneficiary of China’s export boom, a rivalry has emerged over the past 10 years,” Choi told the Financial Times ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary election on Wednesday.
“We need stronger competitiveness to better compete with China,” he added. “The Korean economy will face big challenges if we stick to the past growth model.”