Small, open economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore are most at risk from the spillover effects from coronavirus in China in Asia with tourism, trade, domestic consumption and financial markets expected to register the biggest hits, according to AXA Investment Managers.
Travel bans and suspension of flights by a series of airlines to China has seen the number of trips by Chinese tourists drop sharply, which will in turn hit the economies most reliant on Chinese visitors in Asia, the report said.
The number of Chinese tourists to Asian countries has increased since the Sars outbreak in 2003, with visitors from mainland China accounting for 80 per cent of Hong Kong’s tourists and 30 per cent for Thailand and South Korea.