South Korea's overall exports have increased nine times over the past three decades since it established diplomatic ties with China, but its exports to China alone have soared more than 160 times over that period.

According to the Korea International Trade Association on Tuesday, South Korea's shipments to China increased 162-point-four times from about one billion dollars in 1991 to 162-point-nine billion dollars in 2021.

In comparison, the country's overall exports grew nine times from 71-point-eight billion dollars to 644 billion dollars during the cited period.

The country's shipments to the United States and Japan increased five-point-two times and two-point-four times, respectively, during the period.

In 1991, before the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Beijing, China was South Korea's 15th biggest export market, with the U.S. being the biggest.

In 1992, when the diplomatic ties were established, China climbed to sixth place before moving up to third in 1996 and second in 2001.

In 2003, China became South Korea's biggest export market and retained the position for the next 20 years.