Trade War Would Hurt HK More Than China: Economist

Hong Kong would suffer more than the mainland from any trade war between China and the US, an economist warned on Sunday.

Francis Lui, an adjunct economics professor at the University of Science and Technology, said the territory has more to lose because it is a logistics hub, while US tariffs on China are only likely to add up to a small amount of the mainland's GDP.

"A trade war is not good news for Hong Kong in terms of trade. A lot of the intermediate goods that China assembles actually may go through Hong Kong. So, if a trade war occurs, China's imports through Hong Kong will be reduced," Lui said.

"And moreover, the exports of China through Hong Kong will also be reduced. So Hong Kong will also suffer from this double jeopardy."

Lui's comments came days after US President Donald Trump announced plans to slap steep tariffs on Chinese imports, with Beijing later unveiling a list of potential retaliatory tariffs.

Vice Premier Han Zheng warned on Sunday that trade wars hurt all countries involved and benefit none, and that protectionism gets countries nowhere.

Han said China will continue to open up to develop its high quality goods and the government's top priority is to try to minimise its direct intervention in the market economy.