A strong start to the year that saw the signing of the first phase of the US-China Trade War deal being signed was unfortunately derailed by a black-swan event – the arrival of COVID-19.

I had spent a significant amount of time in Hong Kong in January in which things had calmed down significantly. The retail industry was starting to recover and night hotspots like Lan Kwai Fong were noticeably bustling. On some days, it felt as though things had returned to normal.

I conducted a field trip to Festival Walk, a shopping mall owned by Mapletree North Asia Trust that was shut down because of violent protests earlier in November.

You can read more about it here:

https://theasiareport.com/beyond-the-darkness-field-trip-to-festival-walk-after-reopening-mnact/
Since then, things have quietened considerably and even districts that weren’t affected by the protests have seen a dramatic slowdown in business.

The effects of the COVID-19 has even affected our shores with a noticeable