South Korean companies should intensify their efforts to brace for a slowdown in China's growth, a report said Monday, amid worries that demand from the world's second-largest economy could shrink and hurt their business.

The Chinese economy is showing signs of slowing down, ending its surprisingly fast growth pace in the past years. Concerns are rising that a fall in imports caused by less consumption and investment could hurt Korean companies, which heavily depend on trade with China, the country's No. 1 trading partner.

The report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry predicted that China's imports will grow 14.9 percent next year from a year earlier, sharply decelerating from the 22.1 percent tallied in 2010.

Growth rates for consumption and investment will also likely decrease from 9.4 percent and 15.3 percent to 7.7 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, over the same period.

The KCCI recommended that local companies strengthen their efforts to export "end products," instead of intermediate goods, as China is seeking the "China Inside" under which it intends to bolster its own parts and material industries, a move aimed at replacing imports with locally produced ones.

"It is necessary to move from the intermediate good-oriented export structure to one that focuses on selling end products, while at the same time finding new markets," the report said.

For the decelerating consumption growth in China, the lobby said that Korean companies have to focus more on developing products tailored to meet the tastes of Chinese consumers.

The KCCI also called on companies to pay more attention to infrastructure markets in other neighboring countries in a bid to offset a possible drop in investment opportunities in China. It cited such examples as Japanese rivals winning deals to build high-speed transit systems in Thailand and India. (Yonhap)