S. Korean Firms Operating In China Optimistic About Q3: Poll

SEOUL, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jul, 2018 ) :A majority of South Korean companies operating in China expect business conditions to improve in the third quarter of the year amid eased sanctions against South Korean goods, a poll showed Sunday.

According to the survey of 216 manufacturers, conducted by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), their business survey index (BSI) stood at 125 for the July-September period.

A BSI reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The BSI for sales outlook was also over the threshold of 100 coming in at 115, the poll showed.

By sector, the electronics and electric sectors painted a rosy picture for the third quarter, with the auto making and steel segments also remaining bullish over business conditions in China, it showed.

For their business conditions, the BSI stood at 100, and the index for their revenue was also above the benchmark, according to the survey.

But around 58 percent of the surveyed firms said that their business activities are still vulnerable to the fallout from Seoul-Beijing relations.

A diplomatic row with China over the deployment of the THAAD U.S. missile defense system in South Korea has led to a series of apparent economic retaliations from China, the world's single largest importer of South Korean goods, which inevitably left a crippling dent in the South Korean economy.

Following South Korean President Moon Jae-in's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in December, the neighbors started to recover bilateral exchanges in affected areas, including tourism, entertainment and other commercial sectors.