source: China News Network
China News Agency, Hong Kong, March 26 (reporter Liu chenyao) The Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government released the statistics of foreign commodity trade on the 26th: in February 2020, the value of Hong Kong's overall exports increased by 4.3% compared with the same month last year, and the value of imports decreased by 0.1%. A spokesman for the Hong Kong SAR government said that in the first two months of 2020, the decline in commodity exports in value terms expanded to 12.0%, reflecting the serious interference caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 on regional trade and production activities
the data show that the overall export value of goods in February 2020 was 238.6 billion yuan (Hong Kong dollars, the same below), an increase of 4.3% over the same month in 2019; Over the same period, the value of imports of goods was 277.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1%. In February 2020, a visible trade deficit of 38.6 billion yuan was recorded, equivalent to 13.9% of the value of commodity imports. A spokesman for the SAR government said that the year-on-year increase in commodity exports in February was mainly due to the impact of the lunar new year at different times
e Zhihuan, chief economist of BOC Hong Kong, explained in an interview with China News Agency on the 26th that the Lunar New Year holiday in 2019 is in February and 2020 is in January, so the trade statistics in the first two months fluctuate greatly
<span bdsfid="68"class="bjh-p> however, by averaging the figures for the first two months of 2020, the decline in the value of exports expanded to 12.0% and the value of imports decreased by 9.3%, both of which were inferior to the 4.1% and 6.5% decline in exports and imports in 2019, respectively, indicating that the performance of Hong Kong's foreign trade in the first two months of this year has been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic since late January and the US tariff imposed on Chinese goods earlier (the first stage trade agreement did not eliminate most US tariffs on China). Hong Kong's exports to developed countries such as Europe and the United States continued to record a double-digit decline. " She said that at present, the mainland has gradually achieved results in controlling the COVID-19, and is returning to work and production in an orderly manner, which can partially ease the downward pressure on Hong Kong's exports in the future
looking overseas, e Zhihuan believes that the epidemic has spread rapidly in Europe and the United States, and the risk of global economic recession has increased significantly, which is bound to significantly drag down the consumption and import demand in Europe and the United States. In addition, most U.S. tariffs on China have not been cancelled, and it is expected that Hong Kong's export performance will still face severe challenges in the first half of 2020
the spokesman of the Special Administrative Region government also said that the global pandemic of novel coronavirus has greatly reduced the demand of most major export markets, and the peripheral trade environment has become more severe recently. Therefore, the performance of Hong Kong's commodity exports is expected to remain sluggish in the short term. The government will continue to monitor the situation closely