HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong is experiencing an economic slowdown amid a political crisis that has dragged on for more than five months, but that hasn't stopped a businessman from paying nearly $ 1 million for parking. The huge amount paid by Johnny Chung Chun-yi points to the deep financial gap in Hong Kong society, where one in five people lives below the poverty line, fueling the protesters' anger.
The price paid by the wealthy man to park his car, $ 7.6 million, or nearly $ 970,000, is 30 times the average annual income in Hong Kong.
The car park is located in The Center, the fifth tallest skyscraper in the city, a building that made headlines two years ago when it was sold for a record $ 5 billion to become the world's most expensive office building.
The building was owned by Hong Kong's richest businessman Li Ka-shing.
This comes at a time when more than five months of demonstrations in Hong Kong in support of democracy are weighing on the economy of this semi-autonomous region, especially its real estate market.
Real estate companies, whose shares have fallen in recent months, have been forced to offer rebates on new projects and reduce office rents.
This year's economic growth rate is expected to be between 0 and 1 percent, the lowest since 2009.