Islets disputes lead Chinese to favor ROK products

SEOUL - Territorial disputes between China and Japan led Chinese consumers to favor South Korean products over Japanese ones, a survey by South Korean state-run trade agency showed Monday.

Chinese consumers began to show their reluctance to purchase Japanese products following the latest territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo, while replacing Japanese ones with South Korean ones as the most favored foreign brand, according to the survey by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

The poll was conducted between April 8 and 15 toward 275 consumers in 28 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Gwangzhou.

Around 77 percent respondents said they had bought Japanese products before the renewed claim by Japan over Diaoyu Islands, but the ratio tumbled to 40 percent following Tokyo's claim over the uninhabited island in the East China Sea.

The trade agency said Chinese products replaced Japanese ones most following the territorial dispute, noting that South Korean products ranked second as a replacement of Japanese ones, while ranking first in terms of most favored foreign brand.

The survey results came amid growing concerns in Seoul over the weakening of price competitiveness of South Korean exporters due to the devaluation of the Japanese yen stemming from its monetary easing.

The Bank of Japan vowed to achieve 2 percent inflation within two years at its first policy meeting presided over by new governor Haruhiko Kuroda, pledging to purchase 7 trillion yen in government debts every month.

Such monetary easing policies accelerated the devaluation of the Japanese yen further. The South Korean won appreciated 14.4 percent against the yen in the first quarter, the highest since the 14.5 percent gain in the second quarter of 2009.

More than half of Chinese consumers replied that they had no plan to purchase Japanese products despite the price fall in the products coming from the weak yen.