Hong Kong will ‘play it safe' with growth figures amid US tariff war: Paul Chan
Hong Kong is unlikely to significantly adjust its estimates for the economy as there are major uncertainties externally, the city's finance chief has said, adding that export growth is expected to slow down after businesses rushed to beat US tariffs in the first quarter.
Advertisement
Financial Secretary
Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that the widespread effects of the
US tariff war were a major concern across the board during his recent visits to international summits.
'There are major uncertainties over the economic outlook,' he told a radio programme. 'The US tariffs have a huge impact, so in the near future, to play it safe, we might not readily make major changes to our gross domestic product estimates.'
The United States and China started trade talks in the Swiss city of Geneva this weekend, with US President Donald Trump calling it '
a very good meeting ' after discussions broke off on Saturday evening.
Chan had forecast in his
budget in February that the economy could see full-year growth of 2 to 3 per cent.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan was in Italy last week for the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting. Photo: Handout
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
23 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China's quantum satellite can be hacked, Singapore-based scientist warns
China 's quantum satellite could potentially be hacked due to tiny delays between its onboard lasers that could be exploited by eavesdroppers in an attack, a former Russia -based quantum researcher who is now working in Singapore has warned. Advertisement The tiny delays could provide 'ample opportunities' to hack Micius, the world's first quantum satellite , whose performance is key to expanding China's quantum communication network. Quantum communication is a form of information transfer that relies on quantum physics-based cryptography to encode data in single light particles called photons. Quantum key distribution (QKD) is one method that relies on exchanging secret keys between two parties used to decrypt the information, which makes it difficult for eavesdroppers to listen in and is theoretically unhackable. 'However, it is widely known that realistic QKD devices can be vulnerable to various types of side-channel attacks that rely on flaws in experimental implementation,' said quantum researcher Alexander Miller in a non-peer-reviewed paper submitted online on May 10. Advertisement After analysing data obtained during communication between a ground station and Micius, Miller found time delays between the lasers on the quantum transmitter on board, which showed that the 'distribution of quantum keys from Micius was insecure'.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Why China's problem of cutthroat competition demands the world's attention
When Joseph Schumpeter coined the term 'creative destruction', he might not have realised just how destructive unrestrained competition could be. That is the paradox at the heart of China's recent economic success. Advertisement On Monday, People's Daily ran an editorial , calling for neijuan or involution – a self-defeating cycle of excessive competition – to be nipped in the bud. For China's Communist Party mouthpiece to publicly acknowledge the issue signals its severity. Involution has become an economic undercurrent shaping what we are seeing, from industrial strategy to global trade dynamics. For example, around the time the People's Daily article was published, BYD slashed prices on 22 vehicle models by up to 34 per cent, with its Seagull model now selling for just 55,800 yuan (US$7,750). Other competitors are likely to follow suit shortly. Headlines largely focused on the stock price of carmakers. However, the real story is that BYD could have just priced an entire cohort of Japanese, Korean and European cars out of relevance. Let's not forget the knock-on effects: foreign carmakers facing shrinking margins and slowing innovation budgets could end up withdrawing from electric vehicle (EV) battles they cannot win. Then there are Meituan and , both stepping up subsidies, fighting for user growth in an already saturated food delivery market. This is not because demand has collapsed but because competition has become pathological. Businesses are stuck in a race to the bottom. Advertisement Classical economic theory suggests profits will converge to a normal level in the long run, but such intense competition means supernormal profit plunges quickly while subnormal profit takes much longer to converge upwards. Margins get relentlessly compressed. Incentives trigger an excessive response. Everyone chases the same opportunity – often recklessly.
RTHK
4 hours ago
- RTHK
Thousands march in Rome against security law
Thousands march in Rome against security law People take part in a demonstration against Italian government's DL sicurezza (security law decree) in Rome, Italy. Photo: AFP Thousands of demonstrators marched through Rome on Saturday to protest a new security law passed by prime minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, denouncing its criminal justice reforms as repressive. Under tight police guard and sweltering heat, protesters marched through central Rome past landmarks including the Colosseum, waving trade union and Palestinian flags. The law increases sentences for certain acts including protests and strengthens protections for police officers accused of violence. The decree, passed by the lower house on Thursday after cabinet approval in April, is expected to clear the Senate, where the ruling right has a firm majority, within 10 days. Police facing charges for violence while on duty will be eligible for US$11,350 in legal aid under the new rules. Offences such as taking part in "prison riots" will carry harsher sentences, including cases of passive resistance. Illegal squatters face faster eviction procedures, and pregnant women or mothers of young children will no longer have the chance of avoiding jail when convicted, albeit in less severe detention centres. Traditional union protests such as road blockades during protests, formerly considered only an administrative offence, could now carry jail terms of up to two years. "There is a drastic increase in penalties for occupying buildings to live in," Antetomaso said. "The housing crisis cannot be solved with seven-year prison sentences for those without shelter, but with various social policies." The government insists it has a mandate to pass the law. "Order, security and legality are at the heart of the Meloni government's actions," Carolina Varchi, a deputy in Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party, said on Friday. "Challenging this decree means, in effect, turning one's back on the demand for security that comes from citizens." (AFP)
