Korea's Exports to China Plunge

Korean exports to China plunged 9.4 percent in May on-year due to an economic slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

The fall has set off alarm bells for the export-reliant Korean economy. Exports to China make up the greatest share at Korea's total exports.

What is particularly worrying is that a large chunk of Korean exports to China come in the form of raw materials or parts that are manufactured or reprocessed in China for re-export to other countries.

As China increasingly shifts focus to domestic consumption for its growth, the proportion of intermediate trade based on reprocessing dropped to 25 percent last year from 39 percent six years earlier.