«——【Preamble】】 ——
North Korea is next door to us, but because North Korea is very mysterious, few people know what their daily life is like, but the trade relationship between our country and North Korea is very close, and basically North Korea's export trade passes through our port.
Last year, North Korea's total trade volume was 2 billion, and more than half of it was exported to China.
«——【·Wig·】——
Maybe everyone doesn't believe it when they see this, after all, exporting some food or other machinery and the like is more profitable than wigs, but the fact is that from the data of 23 years, China has imported 1.18 billion yuan of wig products from North Korea, and it can be said that North Korea has taken wigs as their "main industry".
The wig industry is actually a labor-intensive industry, especially the production of high-end wigs requires a lot of manual work, crochet is the key process of producing wigs, which requires workers to hook the hair to the artificial scalp one by one, which is a time-consuming and laborious and technically demanding work.
Today's young people are not willing to do these time-consuming and laborious jobs that do not earn money, so the crochet link of the wig industry has gradually shifted to North Korea, where the labor cost is lower than that of North Korea, according to statistics, the labor cost in North Korea is only half of that in China, and it takes 1,000 yuan to process a high-end wig in China, while in North Korea it only takes 300 yuan.
But it's not that wigs can't be recruited in China, precisely because some two-dimensional and special needs people like this very much, and the corresponding wages will be more, because the cost has risen, so you have to find a lower price of labor?
North Korean wig products are exported to China, then reprocessed and packaged before being sold to the global market, and domestic wig factories such as Pingdu in Qingdao, Shandong Province, have become an important part of the global wig industry.
In recent years, North Korea's foreign trade has been severely affected by the epidemic, and it is not until 2022 that it gradually returns to normal, and in 2023, with the rebound of Chinese market demand, the demand for North Korea's high-priced products has increased significantly, and prices have also risen.
But now the industry is under a lot of competitive pressure, and in order to maintain market share, manufacturers must keep prices down and make new products frequently to avoid falling behind in the market competition, and in the long run, North Korea's labor cost advantage makes it attractive in the field of hair product production and processing.
North Korea may still be an important OEM destination for Chinese hair producers due to cost control concerns, but manufacturers need to adjust their production strategies according to market demand and changes in the industrial chain to ensure product quality and supply stability.
«——[Ginseng, seafood and mountain goods·]——
Earlier, we said that North Korea is more mysterious, because a long time ago North Korea was a country rich in resources but relatively low in industrialization, so the first type of goods exported by North Korea to China are all kinds of local products.
Korean ginseng is one of the star products exported from North Korea, and those who know about this type of product should know that Korean ginseng is mainly produced in Kaesong, where the climate and soil conditions are very suitable for the growth of ginseng, so the quality is extremely high.
In China, everyone has also started to practice health preservation, so Korean ginseng is sold well in the market due to its good quality, while it is produced elsewhere is called "stick ginseng", and although South Korea has tried to capture the Korean ginseng market in recent years, in China, the real Korean ginseng still comes from Kaesong, North Korea.
In addition to ginseng, North Korea also exports a variety of seafood and mountain goods to China, including sea shells and king shrimp, which are grown in high-latitude and low-temperature seawater environment, and mountain goods, which include a variety of dried mushrooms and pine seeds, which are especially popular with consumers in northeast China.
The DPRK obtains foreign exchange through the export of these local products, and obtains the resources it needs in export trade.
«——【·Mineral Resources·】——
According to the World Bank, North Korea accounts for 2% of the world's mineral reserves. The main minerals include iron ore, coal, magnesium ore, copper ore, gold ore and molybdenum ore.
North Korea's iron ore reserves and coal reserves are tens of billions of tons, of which lignite accounts for 70%, and magnesium ore reserves rank among the top 10 in the world, but because of backward technology, North Korea's smelting industry is still at a low level.
And although North Korea has rich mineral resources, its mining technology and industrial base are relatively backward, and North Korea's mining technology mainly relies on the industrial base of the Soviet era, and many of the equipment has aged.
In addition, due to international sanctions, North Korea has not been able to obtain advanced mining equipment, which has limited mineral development, and North Korean trucks even need to burn charcoal to operate, and this "charcoal truck" has long been a thing of the past in China.
China has played an important role in North Korea's mineral development, and in 2005, Tonggang Group awarded 7 billion yuan the 50-year right to mine North Korea's Maosan iron ore mine, the largest iron ore mine in East Asia.
North Korea's mineral development is carried out with Chinese technical support, but due to international sanctions, the scale and efficiency of mining are still limited, so these mineral resources can be said to be one of the few products that can be exported, and it is still possible to safely mine them by friendly relations with China.
«——【Fruit Production and Export·】——
North Korea is an agriculture-based country, but the focus of its agricultural production is mainly in the field of food, ensuring food security is the country's top priority, compared with the fruit planting industry in China, Japan and other countries, North Korea's fruit types and planting area are smaller, mainly apples, pears, persimmons and other traditional fruits.
Moreover, due to the limited production, many fruits are used for domestic consumption and rarely exported, so North Korea mainly exports blue indigo and lingonberries to China.
Blue indigo is a wild berry that grows in remote mountainous areas, riversides, swampy areas. It is extremely hardy and can grow and bloom even in extreme cold environments, and this unique characteristic makes the blue indigo fruit one of the few fruits that North Korea can export.
However, due to the relatively small production, blue indigo is not exported in large quantities and is mainly used for processing rather than fresh consumption, but its market potential is of interest because of the growing interest of the fruit around the world.
The research and commercial development of blue indigo in China is relatively late, and China only began to pay attention to the potential of blue indigo in the eighties of the last century, because the early cultivars of blue indigo still retain the wild sour and bitter taste, which is not popular in China's fresh fruit-dominated market.
Originally, blue indigo fruit was mainly used as a processing raw material to make jam, fruit wine, juice and other products, until later, with the in-depth study of blue indigo fruit by scientific researchers, it was found that it contains a large amount of anthocyanins, gallic acid, catechins and soluble tannins, which make blue indigo fruit have certain advantages compared with blueberries and other berries in nutrition.
Now the commercial development of blue indigo fruit has gradually unfolded around the world, in Europe, America and Japan and other countries, blue indigo fruit has been welcomed because of its rich nutrients and antioxidant properties, and the processed products of blue indigo fruit, such as wine, jam, juice, etc., have begun to be sold in the market.
«——【·Electricity·】——
After all, electricity can still be exported, and only relevant personnel will pay attention to it, but the fact is that the fourth largest commodity exported by North Korea to China is electricity.
In 2023, China imported 536 million kilowatt hours of electricity from North Korea, spending 157 million yuan, accounting for 7.64% of the amount, although China is the world's largest power country, accounting for 30% of the world's annual electricity generation, but North Korea's electricity supply is relatively poor, and even high-end hotels in the capital Pyongyang cannot guarantee power supply, and once used flashlights for lighting.
The reason for the lack of electricity in North Korea is also related to its poor infrastructure and international sanctions, and North Korea has built many hydroelectric and thermal power plants to solve the power problem, but these facilities are old and difficult to maintain.
Due to international sanctions, North Korea has been unable to buy new power equipment from abroad, which has led to a chronic shortage of electricity supply, but why does North Korea export electricity when it is short of electricity? This is because North Korea is facing a severe shortage of foreign exchange.
Because the United Nations Security Council sanctions cut off North Korea's main source of foreign exchange, coupled with the impact of the epidemic, North Korea's foreign trade has been sharply reduced, and in order to obtain foreign exchange, North Korea has had to sell electricity, even if the power shortage is severe.
It can be said that the reason why the DPRK relies on these to maintain its foreign exchange is because its own development potential is insufficient, after all, it can only develop better when it is strong, and it is still unreliable to simply rely on the original production relations to maintain people's lives.
However, the North Korean people do not have too many complaints about their current life, and it can be said that most of the current North Korea trade is with China, and they are relatively relieved that they are backed by China, a big country.
«——[The Future of North Korea]——
Although North Korea faces various sanctions and blockades around the world, its trade with China still shows strong vitality, and it can be seen from these products that although the variety of goods exported by North Korea is small, it has unique advantages in some fields.
As for China, North Korea's exports have both market demand and cost-effectiveness, so to speak, killing two birds with one stone, each taking what it needs, but North Korea's current level of economic and technological development is limited, and many industries are still in their infancy.
In addition, international sanctions and blockades have limited the development space of the DPRK in international trade, and it is still necessary to find a new way out and obtain foreign exchange through the export of commodities to maintain the operation of the national economy, but with the continuous strengthening of trade ties between China and the DPRK, it is believed that in the future, the two countries can carry out deeper cooperation in foreign trade and further promote the friendship and economic development of the two countries.
«——【·Conclusion·】——
In the future, the DPRK also needs to make up for its own shortcomings, further increase its own capital, and hope that China and the DPRK can have better development.
So what else do you know about North Korea's exports to the mainland? Have you seen the items mentioned above? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.
Resources
False eyelashes and wigs have become North Korea's main exports to China
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subheading
With an export volume of only 2 billion, what are the goods that North Korea exports to China?
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North Korea exports 2 billion yuan to China every year, what are the goods?
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