Businesses bottoming out in China

Automobile, cosmetics, retail industries expect gradual sales rebound

By Lee Hyo-sik

Automakers, airlines, duty free shops and other businesses heavily dependent on China are welcoming improving Korea-Sino relations in recent weeks as the two sides work to get the soured ties back on track.

Korean companies, which have been grappling with China’s economic retaliation since March when Korea officially decided to deploy a U.S. anti-missile battery here, are expressing hopes that business will get better amid growing signs of a thaw in icy relations.

Things began picking up after the two countries announced an agreement to normalize ties Oct. 31, with China’s backlash against local firms diminishing over the past two weeks.

Meetings between the leaders of the two nations are adding to an optimistic view of relations in the coming months, company officials said.

Chinese tourists are also expected to return to Korea as the authorities there are moving to normalize exchanges with Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

“Korea-Sino ties have improved substantially over the past month. The two sides are now in the process of getting their relations back on track,” said an official from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping met Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam, agreeing to take bilateral ties to the next level.

Moon plans to visit China in December, while Xi is expected to come to Korea next February during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

“Seoul has been working hard to persuade Beijing about the logic behind the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, while China has been easing its stance on the anti-missile system. The two cannot prosper without one another,”the official said.

After Korea decided to host THAAD, China took a range of steps to impede Korean firms’ operations there.

It virtually banned its people from traveling to Korea in retaliation, while media outlets and civic organizations fanned a boycott of Korean products.

To cope with the backlash, many Korean firms downsized their presence in China. Lotte Group, which offered a site for the THAAD battery, even closed 112 Lotte Mart stores there.

Company officials raised expectations for Hyundai Motor, AmorePacific, Lotte Duty Free and other companies, adding things will return to the pre-THAAD mode by early next year.

Hyundai Motor said Sunday it sold 80,016 vehicles in China last month, down 11.1 percent from a year earlier. Given the sales fell 18.4 percent in September and 35.4 percent in August, things appear to have improved for Korea’s largest automaker.

AmorePacific, Korea’s largest cosmetics maker is cautiously optimistic about improving Korea-Sino ties.

“We have been struggling with falling sales in Korea and China over the past seven months,” a company official said.

The company has been facing unfavorable business conditions in China amid the THAAD row.

“In Korea, we couldn’t sell as many beauty products this year as we did in 2016 because of the declining number of Chinese visitors. We hope the thawing bilateral relations will provide a much-needed boost to our business,” the official said.

Duty free stores and other retailers are scrambling to welcome returning Chinese tourists.

“The warming Korea-Sino tie is the news we have been waiting for all year,” a Lotte Duty Free official said. “We are once again gearing up marketing activities and taking other steps to be ready for returning Chinese tourists. We desperately need more customers from there.”