Korea is striving to do more trading with China in the Chinese yuan, given that Korea enjoys a trade surplus with the world’s most populous country, China News Service said Monday on its English-language site ecns.cn.
The story said that earlier this year, Korea became one of the world’s newest offshore trading centers for yuan, adding that trading between the two countries would be cheaper if they did not have to change funds into U.S. dollars or euros before completing transactions.
A fourth of Korean exports head to China, with Korea in March this year posting a trade surplus of US$8.4 billion with China on combined trade of US$290 billion.
Korean imports from China include components and resources, and Korean exports range from semiconductors, machinery and cars to ships, cell phones and TVs.
Ecns.cn also said other countries are seeking to do trade in yuan, adding that it could become one of five global currencies in the Special Drawing Rights basket of the International Monetary Fund in October.
“With the dollar strengthening, many of these countries are questioning the wisdom and economic impact of a total reliance on the greenback,” it added.
By Yeon Choul-woong
