Economics
Hong Kong's Economy Gets Stuck Between U.S.-China Trade War
- Former colony’s export profile dominated by China conduit role
- Economists downgrading growth outlook as trade conflict grinds
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Hong Kong has long marketed itself as the gateway into China for foreign businesses, especially the U.S. With a trade war now raging between the world’s two largest economies, that’s precisely the problem.
Having shifted its factories across the border decades ago to benefit from cheaper labor, Hong Kong now finds its role as a trade conduit to be a source of concern. Products destined for China and the U.S. passing through the city accounted for almost 10 percent of its roughly $500 billion in exports last year, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.