[China praises] A South Korean think tank said: "Since China can refuse to import American soybeans as a counterattack, South Korea can also not buy Chinese cabbage". As soon as a think tank in South Korea said this, many people felt a little taken for granted. Not to mention anything else, just talking about the logic of trade counterattack, the two are not the same thing at all, and we have to break the facts clearly.
(Source: Through the sea view of the sky -- Huang Chingguo spoke: China can reject Chinese soybeans, South Korea can also not buy Chinese white meals!)
“China can reject U.S. soybeans, South Korea can also not buy Chinese white meat!” a South Korean think tank thrown “reaction high opinion”, recently became a laughing talk in the international public opinion field.
This country, which relies on China's white meat to support the 99% of the raw material supply of the cooked meat, wants to take the national dining table as the keyboard, not only does this statement not show strong, but instead scratches the soft ribs of the supply chain of the "make-up of the cooked meat".
When China changed suppliers with ease in the soybean trade, South Korea couldn't even find an alternative to a cabbage. This so-called "reciprocal counterattack" was a farce of self-deception from beginning to end.
To understand the absurdity of this drama, first look at two sets of suspicious trade data. In the soybean field, China is the "buyer-dominant" in 2024, China's soybean imports amounted to 1.03 billion tons, the United States accounted for only one-third. If China reduced soybean orders, Brazil and Argentina could be subsidized, Brazil's soybean exports to China in the first half of 2024 accounted for more than 70% and prices were better.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has statistics, soya exports to China accounted for more than half of its total exports, lost the Chinese market, US farmers directly face more than $ 100 billion in losses, which is also where China can use soybeans as a trade code - like going to the supermarket to pick up goods, goods than three can not buy.
However, the situation of cabbage in South Korea can be said to be "the lifeline is being squeezed to death." Data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Food of South Korea shows that kimchi factories need to import 200,000 tons of Chinese cabbage every year, 99% of which comes from China.
Local agriculture simply can't support demand: the average age of Korean farmers is over 65 years old, and there is a serious shortage of labor; Scattered plots lead to low mechanization level and unstable cabbage yield; A cold wave in 2020 reduced the production of local cabbage by nearly 40%. A cabbage in the supermarket soared to 188 yuan. The kimchi factory shut down and people rushed to buy it. In the end, the crisis was resolved by the emergency export of Chinese cabbage to China.
South Korea once launched the "cabbage self-sufficiency policy" and planned to get rid of import dependence in five years. As a result, farmers complained that "no one would collect it after planting it, and the cost was higher than that of imports". The policy went away and the dream of self-sufficiency was completely broken.
Ironically, China's Korean white food trade is "quantitatively poor."2024 China's exports to Korean white food are only RMB 1.2 billion, which is insignificant in China's total exports throughout the year.
But South Korea lost Chinese cabbage, and the consequences were serious: kimchi factories either raised prices and restricted purchases, or stopped production, and "national cuisine" became luxury goods. During the Korean cabbage crisis in 2010, President Lee Myung-bak urgently cancelled the tariff on Chinese cabbage to rescue the market. Now the think tank proposes to cut off the purchase, just like "turning off the gas in your own kitchen, and talking about fighting back when the food is not cooked".
The reason why South Korea has repeatedly emerged such "emotional counterattacks" lies in the national psychology of "not being willing to be outdone", but ignores the reality of the industry. Korean kimchi culture is popular around the world, but exporting companies have to rely on China cabbage as raw materials and label it as "Made in Korea" after processing.
A report from the Korea Institute of Rural Economics shows that the trade deficit of South Korea's finished kimchi will break a record in 2022, and more than 80% of dried peppers and nearly 90% of frozen garlic will rely on China imports. The "Korean flavor" has a China mark from the main to the auxiliary materials. The proposal of "not buying China cabbage" is very ironic.
Not to mention that South Korea doesn't even have the opportunity to "find a spare tire". Want to import cabbage from Japan, Vietnam? These countries themselves also rely on the supply of Chinese cabbage and have no excess production capacity at all; Importing from the USA? Not to mention the high transportation cost, it is difficult to guarantee the freshness of cabbage. Looking back at China's "flexibility" in soybean trade, U.S. soybeans have no Brazil and Argentina, and the supply chain is full of resilience.
International trade is like chess, in China's hands is "multiple choice", but in South Korea's hands is only "single bet one shot", and take your own dish to touch other people's strategic code, destined to be only a joke.
In the final analysis, the core of the trade game is "whether the chips are hard", not whether the voice is loud or not. China rejects American soybeans because it has alternative solutions and can control the pace; South Korea does not buy China cabbage, which is cutting off its own food and destroying the people's pot.
The proposal of the South Korean think tank essentially regards "national just needs" as a tool for political catharsis, but forgets the law of the supply chain-whoever has the core production capacity and who has alternative options is the real winner.
Kimchi cannot be separated from China cabbage, just as South Korea cannot be separated from a stable supply of raw materials. This is not a reality that national self-esteem can be changed, nor is it a game that can be reversed by saying "not buying." This farce will eventually pass, but the revelation it leaves is clear: trade cards must rely on strength, use their jobs as a bet, and the only one who will suffer in the end.
(Source: Through the sea view of the sky -- Huang Chingguo spoke: China can reject Chinese soybeans, South Korea can also not buy Chinese white meals!)
“China can reject U.S. soybeans, South Korea can also not buy Chinese white meat!” a South Korean think tank thrown “reaction high opinion”, recently became a laughing talk in the international public opinion field.
This country, which relies on China's white meat to support the 99% of the raw material supply of the cooked meat, wants to take the national dining table as the keyboard, not only does this statement not show strong, but instead scratches the soft ribs of the supply chain of the "make-up of the cooked meat".
When China changed suppliers with ease in the soybean trade, South Korea couldn't even find an alternative to a cabbage. This so-called "reciprocal counterattack" was a farce of self-deception from beginning to end.
To understand the absurdity of this drama, first look at two sets of suspicious trade data. In the soybean field, China is the "buyer-dominant" in 2024, China's soybean imports amounted to 1.03 billion tons, the United States accounted for only one-third. If China reduced soybean orders, Brazil and Argentina could be subsidized, Brazil's soybean exports to China in the first half of 2024 accounted for more than 70% and prices were better.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has statistics, soya exports to China accounted for more than half of its total exports, lost the Chinese market, US farmers directly face more than $ 100 billion in losses, which is also where China can use soybeans as a trade code - like going to the supermarket to pick up goods, goods than three can not buy.
However, the situation of cabbage in South Korea can be said to be "the lifeline is being squeezed to death." Data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Food of South Korea shows that kimchi factories need to import 200,000 tons of Chinese cabbage every year, 99% of which comes from China.
Local agriculture simply can't support demand: the average age of Korean farmers is over 65 years old, and there is a serious shortage of labor; Scattered plots lead to low mechanization level and unstable cabbage yield; A cold wave in 2020 reduced the production of local cabbage by nearly 40%. A cabbage in the supermarket soared to 188 yuan. The kimchi factory shut down and people rushed to buy it. In the end, the crisis was resolved by the emergency export of Chinese cabbage to China.
South Korea once launched the "cabbage self-sufficiency policy" and planned to get rid of import dependence in five years. As a result, farmers complained that "no one would collect it after planting it, and the cost was higher than that of imports". The policy went away and the dream of self-sufficiency was completely broken.
Ironically, China's Korean white food trade is "quantitatively poor."2024 China's exports to Korean white food are only RMB 1.2 billion, which is insignificant in China's total exports throughout the year.
But South Korea lost Chinese cabbage, and the consequences were serious: kimchi factories either raised prices and restricted purchases, or stopped production, and "national cuisine" became luxury goods. During the Korean cabbage crisis in 2010, President Lee Myung-bak urgently cancelled the tariff on Chinese cabbage to rescue the market. Now the think tank proposes to cut off the purchase, just like "turning off the gas in your own kitchen, and talking about fighting back when the food is not cooked".
The reason why South Korea has repeatedly emerged such "emotional counterattacks" lies in the national psychology of "not being willing to be outdone", but ignores the reality of the industry. Korean kimchi culture is popular around the world, but exporting companies have to rely on China cabbage as raw materials and label it as "Made in Korea" after processing.
A report from the Korea Institute of Rural Economics shows that the trade deficit of South Korea's finished kimchi will break a record in 2022, and more than 80% of dried peppers and nearly 90% of frozen garlic will rely on China imports. The "Korean flavor" has a China mark from the main to the auxiliary materials. The proposal of "not buying China cabbage" is very ironic.
Not to mention that South Korea doesn't even have the opportunity to "find a spare tire". Want to import cabbage from Japan, Vietnam? These countries themselves also rely on the supply of Chinese cabbage and have no excess production capacity at all; Importing from the USA? Not to mention the high transportation cost, it is difficult to guarantee the freshness of cabbage. Looking back at China's "flexibility" in soybean trade, U.S. soybeans have no Brazil and Argentina, and the supply chain is full of resilience.
International trade is like chess, in China's hands is "multiple choice", but in South Korea's hands is only "single bet one shot", and take your own dish to touch other people's strategic code, destined to be only a joke.
In the final analysis, the core of the trade game is "whether the chips are hard", not whether the voice is loud or not. China rejects American soybeans because it has alternative solutions and can control the pace; South Korea does not buy China cabbage, which is cutting off its own food and destroying the people's pot.
The proposal of the South Korean think tank essentially regards "national just needs" as a tool for political catharsis, but forgets the law of the supply chain-whoever has the core production capacity and who has alternative options is the real winner.
Kimchi cannot be separated from China cabbage, just as South Korea cannot be separated from a stable supply of raw materials. This is not a reality that national self-esteem can be changed, nor is it a game that can be reversed by saying "not buying." This farce will eventually pass, but the revelation it leaves is clear: trade cards must rely on strength, use their jobs as a bet, and the only one who will suffer in the end.
The 2025 APEC Summit