Chinese firms in Korea nearly triple over decade

The number of Chinese companies doing business in South Korea has nearly tripled over the past decade, data showed Monday, indicating China's increased presence as a major trading partner.

According to the data provided by the National Tax Service (NTS), the number of Chinese-owned companies here came to 620 at the end of 2009, up from 225 tallied in 1999. Including companies from Hong Kong, the number grew further to 990.

The combined figure makes up more than 10 percent of the total foreign-held businesses in South Korea. Foreign-owned firms totaled 9,075 in 2009, marking an over two-fold increase over the past decade.

Among foreign countries, China now has the third-largest business presence in Korea, following Japan and the United States, which operate 2,509 and 2,009 companies here, respectively, the data showed.

The increase came after China emerged as South Korea's largest trading partner in 2004. Their bilateral trade reached around $200 billion last year.

Most of the Chinese firms here are engaged in retail and wholesale business, the data showed. More than half of the Japanese companies are manufacturers, while tech and consulting services account for a large portion of U.S. businesses.

"If this trend continues for the next 10 years, Chinese companies could account for the largest portion of foreign corporate presence in Korea," an NTS official said. (Yonhap)