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The political crisis is far from over, and its impact on the local economy is already blatant. In Hong Kong, sales dropped by more than 20% in August, and during the week of October 1, the number of Chinese visitors dropped by more than 60%.
With our correspondent in Hong Kong, Florence de Changy
" Train service for today has ended, please leave the station, thank you. "The rowing service is over, please leave the station, thank you ... It's not a curfew, but it looks like it. With the subway closing earlier, the city of Hong Kong, known for its tremendous energy, seems to live in slow motion.
The streets and the shops are empty. Sales dropped 20% in August. Some sectors such as hotels, restaurants and all retail businesses are strongly affected by the crisis, while the local economy was already weakened by the trade war between China and the United States.
" The big problem is really consumption. She is very dependent on tourism, which is rather Chinese. As Chinese tourists no longer come, very clearly, consumption has gone down a lot, a lot. We expect negative growth , "says economist Alicia Garcia Herrero, Natixis.
" Everyone is affected. It's very serious and very disturbing "
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, however, has a long history of economic crises. The most recent took place in 1998, 2003 and 2008, the city has always recovered. Felix Chung, a member of the Liberal Party - the pro-Beijing camp - explains that this crisis comes in an already complicated context.
" We already had our entire export sector that was impacted by the trade war between China and the United States. And on top of that came domestic consumption, which is now affected by the internal crisis. So now everyone is affected. It's very serious and very disturbing. "
Hong Kong is eagerly awaiting the stimulus package that executive head Carrie Lam is due to announce next Wednesday.
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