One kilogram-force centimetre is 0.0980665 newton-metres. It is the small-torque unit of the metric gravitational system, and it turns up constantly in specifications for hobby servos and small motors.
About the units
A kgf·cm is one kilogram-force acting one centimetre from the axis. It combines the deprecated kilogram-force with the centimetre, and it survives mainly because a whole industry standardised on it: radio-control servos, small geared motors and hobby actuators are almost universally specified in kilogram-force centimetres, regardless of where they are made. A servo advertised at 10 kg·cm — with the force part usually left out of the label — produces 0.98 N·m, which is enough to lift a kilogram on a one-centimetre arm or a hundred grams on a ten-centimetre one.
The exact factor
The exact value is 0.0980665 N·m per kgf·cm, since a kilogram-force is 9.80665 N and a centimetre is 0.01 m. The approximation of 0.1 is high by two per cent and entirely adequate for hobby work: a 20 kg·cm servo is about 2 N·m. Going the other way, 1 N·m is 10.197 kgf·cm. The relationship to pound-inches, the other small-torque unit in common use, is 1 kgf·cm = 0.868 lbf·in.
Where you meet this conversion
Radio-control models, robotics and hobby engineering, where servo torque is the headline specification and is always in kilogram-force centimetres. Small geared DC motors from Asian manufacturers use the same unit. Understanding the arm-length relationship matters more than the conversion itself: a servo rated 15 kg·cm delivers 15 kilograms of force at one centimetre, but only 1.5 at ten centimetres, and that is what determines whether it can move a given linkage.