ASIAN companies, economists and governments have started to raise the alarm about the risk of lower Chinese demand for everything from Australian iron ore to South Korean cars as a result of the escalating trade war between the US and China.
South Korean automaker Hyundai blamed a plunge in third-quarter earnings on weak sales in China and the US, its two largest markets overseas, reported London's Financial Times.
South Korea's exports declined by eight per cent in September year on year, the biggest fall in two years, prompting Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon to warn the country's economic outlook could deteriorate due to mounting external risks.
Japanese copier and camera company Canon has raised concerns about the ripple effect the US-China dispute might have on the global economy.
'One concern is how long this trade war is going to last,' said Canon's chief financial officer Toshizo Tanaka. 'A far more serious issue is if this becomes a catalyst for an economic slowdown, not only in China and the US but in other regions across the world.'
In Taiwan analysts warned that an economy that depended on the export of high-tech electronics to China was acutely exposed to the risk of decreasing regional trade volumes and slower Chinese consumption.
The World Bank, in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, published earlier this month, calculated that a one percentage point drop in China's GDP growth would lower aggregate growth in developing Asia Pacific countries by 0.5 per cent after two years.
The bank said that a growth shock in China would cause it to cut its import of commodities, which comprise a significant share of exports from Mongolia, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, and leave 'those countries highly exposed to economic fluctuations in China.'
Australia has one of the most China-linked economies in the developed world, with one third of its A$100 billion (US$71 billion) of merchandise exports flowing to the country in 2017. The country is one of the world's lowest cost producers of iron ore and coal.
While there are no obvious signs yet the Australian economy is suffering - with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasting GDP to rise by 3.2 per cent in 2018, the highest rate in several years - analysts said it would be hit if China's slowdown were to persist.
'Australia remains vulnerable to any more substantial slowing in the Chinese economy not only because of the significant proportion of our exports which China takes but also because China in effect sets the prices we get for our exports of the same products to other markets such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan,' said University of Tasmania fellow Saul Eslake.
South Korean automaker Hyundai blamed a plunge in third-quarter earnings on weak sales in China and the US, its two largest markets overseas, reported London's Financial Times.
South Korea's exports declined by eight per cent in September year on year, the biggest fall in two years, prompting Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon to warn the country's economic outlook could deteriorate due to mounting external risks.
Japanese copier and camera company Canon has raised concerns about the ripple effect the US-China dispute might have on the global economy.
'One concern is how long this trade war is going to last,' said Canon's chief financial officer Toshizo Tanaka. 'A far more serious issue is if this becomes a catalyst for an economic slowdown, not only in China and the US but in other regions across the world.'
In Taiwan analysts warned that an economy that depended on the export of high-tech electronics to China was acutely exposed to the risk of decreasing regional trade volumes and slower Chinese consumption.
The World Bank, in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, published earlier this month, calculated that a one percentage point drop in China's GDP growth would lower aggregate growth in developing Asia Pacific countries by 0.5 per cent after two years.
The bank said that a growth shock in China would cause it to cut its import of commodities, which comprise a significant share of exports from Mongolia, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, and leave 'those countries highly exposed to economic fluctuations in China.'
Australia has one of the most China-linked economies in the developed world, with one third of its A$100 billion (US$71 billion) of merchandise exports flowing to the country in 2017. The country is one of the world's lowest cost producers of iron ore and coal.
While there are no obvious signs yet the Australian economy is suffering - with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasting GDP to rise by 3.2 per cent in 2018, the highest rate in several years - analysts said it would be hit if China's slowdown were to persist.
'Australia remains vulnerable to any more substantial slowing in the Chinese economy not only because of the significant proportion of our exports which China takes but also because China in effect sets the prices we get for our exports of the same products to other markets such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan,' said University of Tasmania fellow Saul Eslake.