THE strained relations between China and Taiwan and rising production costs in the mainland will have a negative impact on trade between Taipei and Hong Kong in the long term, according to a top trade official.
'Right now, the tense relations between Taiwan and the mainland have not been reflected in the trade between Hong Kong and Taiwan because many export and import orders were made before China's missile testing,' Kenneth Lai, general manager of the Hong Kong-Taipei Trade Centre, said.
'But in the longer term there's bound to be some impact,' he said, adding it would take about six months for it to filter through.
Hong Kong is a main channel for trade between China and Taiwan.
According to Taiwan's finance ministry, the trade surplus with Hong Kong grew 28 per cent to US$16.04 billion for the first eight months of this year compared with the same period last year.
Two-way trade totalled $18.4 billion.
