The Buzz | Hong Kong economy contracts 9% in latest quarter
Hong Kong’s economy shrank by 9% from a year earlier in the latest quarter, hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and facing more potential damage from the loss of U.S. trade privileges due to a security law imposed by Beijing.
The performance reported yesterday for the three months ending in June was an improvement over the previous quarter’s 9.1% contraction, the biggest since the government began reporting such data in the 1970s.
Hong Kong, a center for trade, finance and tourism, already was struggling before the coronavirus prompted the government to impose travel curbs and restrictions on business.
Tourist arrivals fell following protests that began in June 2019 over a proposed extradition law and expanded to include demands for greater democracy and other grievances.
The territory also faces further trouble after Washington withdrew its special trade status in response to Beijing’s imposition of a security law that will tighten control over the former British colony.
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