Which Chinese cities will be hit hardest by Donald Trump’s trade fury?
Export centres brace for an added US$200 billion of tariffs on Chinese imports as the US president escalates the trade war
Major export centres in China that depend heavily on trade with the United States for economic growth may be about to feel more pain as the countries’ trade war expands.
With US President Donald Trump about to escalate the trade war by slapping fresh duties on an additional US$200 billion of Chinese imports, a rough search of China’s top 10 overseas shipping cities by value last year shows the city of Dongguan in south China’s central Guangdong province to be most exposed to the uncertainty in the export markets.
The industrial city in the Pearl River Delta depended on exports for 92.7 per cent of its economic growth in 2017, an all-time high, according to local government data. Exports to the US accounted for about a fifth of Dongguan’s total exports.
Suzhou, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, was most exposed to the US market. Shipments destined for the US from this city just west of Shanghai accounted for 28.7 per cent of its total exports, the data showed. Exports accounted for 73.2 per cent of the city’s GDP.
Other Chinese cities that may feel pain from the US government’s trade actions include Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ningbo, all which have reported that they rely on exports for more than half of their economic growth.
Shenzhen, the headquarters city of telecom equipment makers ZTE and Huawei, for instance, has built 73.7 per cent of its economy from exports, data showed.