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South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong exports up 15.5% in May as firms race to beat China-US tariff deadline
Hong Kong's exports surged 15.5 per cent in May from a year ago, with economists attributing the increase to the front-loading of shipments by businesses racing to beat the July deadline of a tariff truce between China and the United States. The value of total exports reached HK$434.1 billion (US$55.3 billion) in May, the Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday. The strong performance, which followed a 14.7 per cent increase in April, comes during a 90-day grace period on tariffs running from April 9 to July 8. Billy Mak Sui-choi, an associate professor in the department of accountancy, economics and finance at Baptist University, said that firms were rushing to ship goods during the '90-day window'. Looking ahead, Mak said June's export figures should remain strong, but the outlook for July was highly uncertain. 'I am cautiously optimistic for next month, but I estimate there will be uncertain factors in July,' Mak said. The key question is what the US will do after the grace period ends, as it could potentially raise tariffs on Southeast Asian nations as well, challenging the 'China plus one' diversification strategy, he added.
South China Morning Post
28-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Is Hong Kong's population stabilising? No, but there's room to grow
Population figures released by the Census Statistics Department this month show that Hong Kong's population has risen by 0.1 per cent to just over 7.53 million, the third straight year it has increased. Our population size seems to be stabilising, unlike in Japan or mainland China , where populations are shrinking. Advertisement However, upon examining the three key components of population growth – births, deaths and net migration – some trends require attention, despite a lack of discussion in the media. Despite government measures such as the HK$20,000 (US$2,572) cash support for families with newborns, and 2024 being a dragon year , seen as auspicious for childbirth, the number of births increased to only 36,700 in 2024. This number is the third lowest since 1961. The government spent HK$734 million on the childbirth handout last year. As the rise in population is partly attributed to the impact of a dragon year, this leads to questions about the cost-effectiveness of the handout. It is possible that last year's slight population increase may not continue into 2025 as historical birth data suggests a reduction in the year following the dragon year, as observed in the earlier periods of 1988 -1989, 2000-2001 and 2012-2013. Advertisement Additionally, the decrease in marriages in Hong Kong indicates that the increasing number of births in 2024 may revert to a decreasing trend in 2025, further exacerbating the already low fertility rate and serious population ageing
