According to a report by Yonhap News Agency quoted by overseas networks on February 1, data released by Statistics Korea on February 1 showed that China overtook the United States for the first time and became the largest importer of cross-border e-commerce in South Korea. Statistics show that in 2023, South Korea's cross-border e-commerce imports will increase by 26% year-on-year9% to 67,567 trillion won. In terms of imports, China increased by 121 year-on-year2%, which is 32,873 trillion won (about 177 yuan.)200 million yuan). The United States, which previously ranked first, saw its imports fall by 7 percent year-on-year3% for 18,574 trillion won.
According to Korean media reports, as early as 2022, Chinese e-commerce platforms developed in South Korea have shown a rapid development momentum. In October 2022, the number of visits to Coupang, a local e-commerce platform in South Korea, was 28.46 million, and that of "11st" was 8.16 million. Alibaba's AliExpress followed with 6.13 million visits, followed by Gmarket (5.82 million) and Pinduoduo's Temu (2.66 million).
The data shows that although China's e-commerce platforms are not as good as South Korean e-commerce platforms in terms of the number of visitors. But in terms of monthly growth rate, the Chinese platform beat the South Korean company. Compared to September 2022, the number of users visiting Temu increased by 573,900 and AliExpress increased by 573,500, followed by South Korea's CJ Onstyle (480,000), Lotte Homeshopping (400,000) and GS Shop (280,000), according to analyst agency "Igaworks". In 2023, the number of Korean users on AliExpress more than doubled compared to 2022.
According to some analysts, prices have led to the Korean people being more inclined to affordable goods. With the absence of middlemen and a relatively low level, Korean consumers can buy affordable overseas goods on Chinese e-commerce platforms, and e-commerce platforms including AliExpress, Temu and Shein are gradually expanding their influence in South Korea.