〈Asian Post, June 20, 2020〉Hong Kong manufacturers with operations in the Greater Bay Area are struggling under the weight of burdensome regulations and are reluctant to make long-term investments to upgrade their facilities because of uncertainty in the global business environment, a report by the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong says.

The association, in conjunction with Lingnan University, conducted interviews with 400 mostly small and medium-sized companies headquartered in Hong Kong but with manufacturing bases in Dongguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The areas have the highest amount of investment among the nine cities at the core of Beijing's Greater Bay Area development blueprint.

Despite the plan to turn the area into a leading source of industrial development, the survey highlighted the difficulties facing many Hong Kong-based businesses, among them rising operating costs, high taxes and administrative fees, rapidly changing regulations and piracy problems.

Some 81 per cent of companies said taxation was cumbersome and administrative charges were excessive, while 83 per cent said they had issues with the mainland's constantly changing environmental, trade and investment policies. About 80 per cent cited labour shortages.

〈China Daily, June 19, 2020〉A plan to redevelop more than 3,000 buildings in two densely packed districts will be too costly to implement fully, the Urban Renewal Authority has revealed.

The concerns came as the semi-public body recorded a massive drop in its surplus for the past financial year and estimated it would run a HK$100 million deficit in the coming one, raising fears over its long-term sustainability.

"We have a budget deficit for the coming financial year, but there's no need to be overly concerned," URA chairman Chow Chung-kong said yesterday. "We are hopeful that there will be cash inflow arising from some new sites [put] out for tender next year. But in the near future, as we will be planning for larger and more extensive redevelopment projects, there might be shortages of cash flow and the authority might need to look for ways to finance ourselves by that time."

The authority has been working on redeveloping parts of Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, involving 3,300 buildings, 80 per cent of which were three decades or older, to make better use of the land and generate housing. Three options are being considered: one where the population after renewal stays around the current level of 220,000; another where the population drops by 14 per cent; and a third where the population falls by 28 per cent.

〈Asian Post, June 19, 2020〉China’s economy is still facing challenges from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but there are signs of improvement, Vice Premier Liu He said in a message read at a forum in Shanghai Thursday (June 18).

He advised raising the efficiency of financial supervision and improving the capability of government departments to predict developments, China Times reported. Despite the challenges, Liu claimed some basic indicators were showing improvements, including revivals of the automobile and real estate markets.

The vice-premier also mentioned Hong Kong, saying the communist government will safeguard the territory’s status as an international financial hub as well as the interests of foreign investors. China has been the target of global criticism for its decision to issue a national security law which has been seen as stifling basic freedoms and human rights in Hong Kong.

On the issue of world trade, Liu told the Lujiazui Forum that China would respect its trade agreement with the U.S. and move forward with its implementation, the China Times reported. Deepening reforms and large-scale opening of the economy will remain key goals of the government’s policies, Liu said.

〈China Daily, June 19, 2020〉The number of foreclosed properties in Hong Kong could reach the highest level since the global financial crisis early next year, as owners struggle to repay mortgages amid a recession-hit economy that has taken a toll on businesses and pushed the unemployment rate to more than a 15-year high.

"The number of foreclosed properties will surge next year to [between] 1,000 and 2,000," said Henry Choi, a director at property auctioneer Century 21 Surveyors, comparing the situation to 2009 when the global financial crisis led to 3,600 repossessions.

"It is expected that the unemployment rate will rise and next year's economy may be way [worse] than this year. The chain of business [activity] has been broken, with small and [big] companies on the brink of survival."

There were 94 foreclosed properties on the market this month versus 56 in June last year, and almost four times higher than the 19 recorded in the same month in 2018, according to Century 21 data.

The city's economic outlook is bleak, with Morgan Stanley forecasting a 9.4 per cent contraction year on year in the second quarter, extending a slide to a fourth consecutive quarter. The US bank expects the economy to contract between 5.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent in 2020.

The city's unemployment rate for March to May rose to 5.9 per cent, the highest in more than 15 years, the statistics department said yesterday. There were 230,400 unemployed from March to May. The unemployment rate during the height of the financial crisis in 2009 was 5.5 per cent.

〈The Standard, June 17,2020〉Movie star Stephen Chow Sing-chi mortgaged a luxury house on The Peak to JPMorgan Chase Bank in March, while two units at Arezzo owned by Taiwanese actress Pace Wu Pei Ci were rented out at just HK$17 per square foot, even cheaper than public housing.

Chow and local developer Ryoden Development bought the site of the former Skyhigh development in 2004 for HK$320 million and rebuilt it as four houses - Pollock's Path 10, 12, 16 and 18. No 16 and No 18 were sold in 2009 for HK$350 million and HK$300 million, while the No 10 house was sold by Ryoden Development for HK$800 million in 2011.

Chow had mortgaged the No 12 house in 2011 and redeemed it in 2019. The house has been mortgaged again in March this year.

Meanwhile, Pace Wu rented out a 2,851-sq-ft and 2,779-sq-ft featured flat in Mid-Levels West for a total of only HK$100,000 per month last month, 70 percent cheaper than the market price. Its rental price per sq ft was cheaper than that of public housing.