While meeting with reporters after the shareholder’s meeting, Stephen Ng, Chairman of WHARF HOLDINGS (00004.HK)  +0.060 (+0.303%)    Short selling $1.99M; Ratio 29.641%   , noted that the progress of the preliminary agreement between China and the US was made faster than expected. There are no winners in the trade and tariff wars, Ng opined, but apart from the impact of the broader environment, Hong Kong’s shipping industry also faces “drawbacks” in terms of terminal conditions, since most cargo sources in the Pearl River Delta are closer to Shenzhen and Nansha, which has put Hong Kong’s terminals at an inherent disadvantage regarding distance and cost. In the past, Hong Kong was making up for this with its free port status, efficiency, and zero tariffs.

In response to major shipping companies having already started planning route adjustments before the tariff war and beginning making changes in 1Q, Ng viewed these as unfavorable for the outlook of Hong Kong’s shipping industry in the future. However, the industry is still in a transitional period for the time being, and the impact has yet to be fully felt.

When asked about his views on Hong Kong’s property market, Ng answered that with the recent improvement in the stock market and more new listings in Hong Kong, sentiment in the super luxury property market with individual units costing over $100 million has improved, and buyers are feeling more confident about transactions worth hundreds of millions.
(HK stocks quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.Short Selling Data as at 2025-05-15 12:25.)