In the Media

In a recent Financial Times article, Prof. Heiwai Tang, Associate Dean of HKU Business School and Director of the Asia Global Institute, offered his perspective on how the trade war has put foreign companies in China in the middle of a double-tariff squeeze. “Foreign firms are really being squeezed in the Chinese market,” said Prof. Tang. “If they import, they pay the Chinese tariffs. When they export back to the US, they pay the US tariffs.” He emphasised that these companies are essentially being “hit twice.” Foreign manufacturers in China face steep tariffs—125% on imported components and 145% on exports to the US. With international companies accounting for nearly one-third of China’s total trade, this impact is far-reaching. US corporations like Apple and Tesla, which rely heavily on China as a manufacturing base, are especially vulnerable to these double tariffs.

Chen Zhiwu, a chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said the comments were “typical Trump” and “nothing unusual”. “In reality, there hasn’t been any substantial progress or change in the US-China tariff negotiations. But this is Trump’s way of signalling to China,” Chen said.

In April 2025, global financial markets experienced an unprecedented credit crisis, with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury skyrocketing to 4.5%, marking the largest weekly increase since 2001. What are the reasons behind this crisis? Is the tariff policy of the Trump administration a catalyst for market turmoil? Will the U.S. Treasury market successfully navigate through this crisis?

But some countries, such as Vietnam, likely had little choice but to prioritize the United States, said Zhiwu Chen, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. He noted how Vietnam had reoriented its economy around attracting American and other foreign brands to manufacture there. “They don’t really have a lot of leeway to take China’s side and offend the U.S.,” he said.

U.S. President Trump recklessly initiated a tariff war against the world, disrupting the global economic landscape. Why does Trump, with his 'professional' background, insist on waging a tariff war that violates economic principles? Will it solve America's trade deficit issue? What profound impacts will it have on China's industrial development?

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, some borrowers may use it to enhance their credit data in order to obtain loan approvals. Instead of approving borrowers through extensive data collection from multiple sources, lenders might consider self-imposing limits to focus on improving the quality of the data collected while also increasing loan profits.

Prof. Shusong Ba, Professor of Practice in Finance at HKU Business School, spoke at “The 6th HKU Quarterly Forum on China Economy", highlighted recent data indicating signs of recovery in the first-hand real estate market, with tier-one and emerging tier-one cities expected to achieve stabilisation after declines. However, most cities will still face downward pressure on housing prices. Prof. Ba stated, “Looking ahead, China’s real estate market will generally be in a transition phase between old and new cycles and models. The negative effects of the old cycle need to be absorbed, while the positive factors of the new cycle need room to grow. According to data, China's total real estate market value accounts for over 200% of GDP, whereas in the United States, it is less than 80%. The previous model, driven by real estate expansion and debt growth, is no longer sustainable. Therefore, the goal of market development should not be to return to historical peaks, but to gradually stabilise at a new equilibrium level, allowing sufficient time for the new cycle to develop.”

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