2019年CRI Hong Kong protests hit local economy

 

With unrest and protests in Hong Kong now going into their fourth month, there are mounting concerns for the impact on Hong Kong's once mighty¹ economy.

Our reporter Eugene Benson takes a look at some of the big picture economic figures to find out what's happening in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was built on business. For more than a century, it has been a bustling² centre for merchants and traders and bankers of all sorts.

But for the last three months, Hong Kong's economy has been reeling.

Since June, the streets have been flooded with protesters - and violence and chaos³ have followed. Some of the latest macro-economic numbers are shocking:

- Since July, more than $600 billion dollars of stock market value has been erased⁴, and some are worried that property values could plummet⁵.

- In July, retail⁶ sales by volume fell 13%, according to government figures. Retail sales by value, meanwhile, dropped 11%.

- Hong Kong's GDP is virtually at a standstill and many economists⁷ warn that this once robust⁸ and dynamic economy - could be heading towards recession.

Many wonder if the current turmoil⁹ is actually driving businesses away.

Andrew Barclay, co-founder of Accounting¹⁰ and Business Services Company Stepping Stone said business was becoming cautious.

“Whilst we've previously¹¹ not had to explain the benefits of Hong Kong over other southeast Asian centres, now we are being asked more frequently why people should come to Hong Kong, there seems to be an awareness¹² to the situation and a need for people to be reassured¹³ that its business is as usual.”

And that's purely¹⁴ something you have noticed since the protests kicked off in June?

“Absolutely there has been a material increase in the frequency we are asked those kind of questions.”

Hong Kong's economy was already taking a beating from the China-US trade war. Now, the protest crisis has taken things from bad- to worse.

Local business reporter Charles McDermid spoke¹⁵ to us about what the Hong Kong government is doing to pull the city's economy out of its nosedive.

“Hong Kong is worried about recession and that's what everybody is talking about now. And this was a concern even before the protests, which have hammered the economy. Recession was in the cards before that because of the trade war. And with the trade war that's been in decline. Now with the protests it's a whole other element. Just on Thursday financial secretary Paul Chan announced a $35Bil. That's a fund for small and medium sized businesses that they'll have access to, that's something people can apply for. Earlier in August he released $19bil, and these are directly because of the protests, because of what we've seen, the hits that the economy has taken. So the city is reacting, but then on the streets you see really alarming metrics. You see shops that are empty, you see tourism numbers down. I mean across the board you're seeing alarming trends and it's all heading towards a recession. The protests have been the worst thing at the worst time.”

Over the years, Hong Kong's economy has withstood many obstacles...including the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the SARS outbreak in 2003.

But if these protests continue, it could be the biggest challenge yet.

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

9 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

10 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

13 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。