The high-speed railway connecting east China's Hangzhou City of Zhejiang Province and Hong Kong was put into use on Sunday, cutting travel time between the two cities to below seven hours. Departing from Hangzhou West Station at 15:10 BJT, the G99 train passes six stations before arriving at 21:56 BJT at West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong. Passengers only need to scan their Exit and Entry Permit at the station to finish cross-boundary inspection. "It takes just over six hours to arrive in Hong Kong, which is not that long. I have my Hong Kong-Macao Entry-Exit Permit, and all I need is to scan it on the machine over the counter," said Jin Siyu, a traveler taking the first train. To further facilitate travelers on the route, Hangzhou West Station now allows passengers to extend their Entry-Exit Permit with self-service machines.
"It takes around two to three minutes to finish (the extension) on this machine. But we can only provide extension services," said Chen Na, a staff member at the police station at Hangzhou West Station Hub, under the Yuhang District branch of Hangzhou City Public Security.
Railway connecting Hangzhou and Hong Kong begins operation
Japan's economy faces major shocks after the United States imposed its "reciprocal tariffs" policy, according to a Japanese expert.
The U.S. has imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and introduced an additional 24 percent reciprocal tariff on Japanese products starting Wednesday. These measures have raised concerns about potential systemic risks to the global economy.
In an interview with China Central Television Network (CCTV), Nobuhiko Hibara, an associate professor from Waseda University's business school, highlighted the severe impacts of the U.S. trade protectionist measures on Japan's key industries, including automobiles.
"Japan exports about 30 to 33 percent of its cars to the United States. So, that's the part which affected the most. If Japan's automobile exports to the U.S. decrease by around 500,000 vehicles, Japan's nominal GDP is projected to contract by approximately 0.3 percent. The impact is enormous. Of course, prices will go up. Consumption will also shrink," he said.
While the United States claims to address the hollowing out of American manufacturing, it is essentially a form of trade protectionism, noted the expert.
"Even if the so-called U.S. trade deficit is reduced by the imposition of tariffs, but if the trade volume itself decreases, even reducing the trade deficit will not help. So, countries are very worried right now about the risk of an overall global economic contraction," he said.
Japan's economy faces multiple shocks from US tariffs: expert
