Updated Oct.13,2004 18:57 KST
Chinese Kimchi Beats Out Korean Kimchi in Japan China has overtaken Korea as Japan's largest exporter of kimchi. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) office in Osaka, Japan on Wednesday, Japan imported 6.16 billion yen of Chinese kimchi from January to July, a 30 percent increase over the same period last year, exceeding the 5.927 billion yen recorded by Korean kimchi imports from January to July. Until last year, kimchi made in Korea had accounted for some 50 percent of total kimchi imports in Japan. Chinese kimchi has become popular in Japan mainly due to large Japanese stores buying from Chinese producers at low prices.
Some analysts say that there is little need to worry about the sharp increase in Chinese kimchi in Japan because most Chinese kimchi exported to Japan is made by Korean or Japanese companies that have plants in China. They say that compared to reported figures, the actual percentage of kimchi made by Chinese companies is not as high.
A KOTRA official said that because of the Korea-Japan World Cup and the popularization of Korean culture in the country, demand for kimchi in Japan is on the rise and that compebreastion between Japanese, Korean and Chinese kimchi will heat up in the near future.
