author:Young Joo Lee(Small and Venture Business Division)

1. Introduction
The exports of Chinese automotive industry have drastically increased since 2000. It is the result of China’s effort to foster its exports. A sudden surge of the Chinese exports can threaten the Korean auto industry, so that the possibility of the Chinese competitive threat should be analyzed.
Based on the theoretical contetxt of the Uppsala model and various indexes on competitiveness appraisal, this article analyzes the export promotion policies of China, export-oriented operations and plans of the Chinese firms, the Chinese export industralization paths, and their impact on the Korean exports in the auto industry.
The Chinese export industralization paths can be analyzed by the theoretical framework of the Uppsala model. This model is widely accepted in the export development studies despite some exception to the internationalization process of born global firms. It underscores the firm`s role of knowledge acquisition and learning for the incremental progression along the internationalization process, leading to the reduction of uncertainty regarding its subsequent foreign markets entry and operations. It indicates that internationalization begins with low risk and low commitment. As firms gain knowledge and experience from current activities to reduces market risk and uncertainty, they are expected to increase foreign markets commitment over time. Gaining experience will lead to further expansion to more distance markets in terms of geography and culture...