This photo shows a general view of a Hong Kong container port at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in Hong Kong, Sept 5, 2018. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - The values of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods registered year-on-year decrease of 9.7 percent and 10 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2020, as per statistics released Monday by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

In March 2020 alone, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 5.8 percent over a year earlier to HK$323.6 billion, after a year-on-year increase of 4.3 percent in February 2020

According to the HKSAR government's Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), a visible trade deficit of HK$103.8 billion (about US$13.39 billion), equivalent to 11.1 percent of the value of goods imported, was recorded in the first quarter of 2020.

In March 2020 alone, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 5.8 percent over a year earlier to HK$323.6 billion (about US$41.75 billion), after a year-on-year increase of 4.3 percent in February 2020.

The value of imports of goods decreased by 11.1 percent over a year earlier to HK$358.4 billion (about US$46.24 billion) in March, after a year-on-year decrease of 0.1 percent in February.

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A visible trade deficit of HK$34.7 (about US$4.48 billion), equivalent to 9.7 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in March. 

Hong Kong's merchandise exports remained weak in March, a spokesman for the HKSAR government said, adding that while exports to the Chinese mainland rebounded alongside the gradual resumption of economic activities there, exports to many other major markets, including the United States and European Union, had plunged further.

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Looking ahead, as COVID-19 has spread across the world since March and caused a severe contraction of the global economic activity, Hong Kong's merchandise exports will remain under notable pressure in the near term, said the spokesman, adding that the HKSAR government will continue to monitor the situation closely.