South Korean buyers and Chinese suppliers hope to narrow the trade imbalance between the two countries and further expand trade cooperation by purchasing more Chinese-made products.

"China has recorded trade deficit with South Korea for many years, and the South Korean government hopes to expand bilateral trade in the long term and make efforts to narrow the gap," said Chin Chul Pyung, chairman of the Korea Importers Association, which represents 13,000 importers who handle about 90 percent of imports to South Korea.

Twenty-eight members of the association and more than 210 Chinese suppliers attended a one-day Sino-Korean trade fair in Shanghai yesterday.

In the first half, China's trade deficit with South Korea expanded 87.2 percent from the same period last year to US$10.1 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Both countries are the third-largest trading partner of each other.

China sold US$8.7 billion worth of goods to South Korea from January to June, up 27 percent year-on-year. In the meantime, imports from South Korea were valued at US$18.8 billion, an increase of 53.7 percent from last year. China has recorded a trade deficit with South Korea since both countries established diplomatic ties in 1992.

"China mainly exported agricultural goods to South Korea in the 1990s," said Shen Dayong, secretary-general of the Shanghai Association of International Trade.

At the same time, South Korea's exports to China focus on high value electronic and telecom-munications products. The expansion of Korean investments to produce high-tech goods in China increased the imports of raw materials, he added.

At yesterday's fair, most Korean buyers said that they hope to buy Chinese-made electronics, manufacturing machinery, chemical goods and other consumer products in an effort to narrow the deficit.

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