Korea is losing export competitiveness: report

South Korea is losing export competitiveness in the major industrial sectors as China is catching up fast in the technology and manufacturing industries, a report showed Sunday.

The market share of Korea's top 13 export items accounted for 5.3 percent in the global market in 2015, shedding 0.4 percentage point from 2011, the Korea International Trade Association said in a report.

The key export items include semiconductors, autos, ships, steel, flat panel displays, wireless communications equipment, computers and auto parts.

In contrast, China's market share in the cited sectors rose from 15.2 percent in 2011 to 18.3 percent in 2015, while that of Japan and the United States also slipped over the period.

"Korean companies have had a global competitive edge in semiconductors, autos and ships, but those backbone export industries are being challenged," the KITA said.

Korean flat panel displays showed the sharpest decline in market share from 23.2 percent to 18.5 percent over the past five years, while its ships' export market share dropped from 24.5 percent to 21.2 percent, the association said.

The market shares of petrochemicals, wireless communications equipment, auto parts, steel, autos and home appliances held mostly steady, while the market shares of semiconductor, engineering and computer exports slightly increased, it said.

Industry watchers say Korean companies should innovate to deal with toughening competition with China and foster new growth drivers.

"Korean companies should develop new growth drivers in the manufacturing industry and carry out innovation and corporate restructuring to boost their global export competitiveness in the face of toughening competition with Chinese and Japanese firms," said Mong Byung-ki, an international trade expert at KITA. "Especially, they need to deal with China's fast expansion in major export markets." (Yonhap)