Hong Kong jeweller TSL targets mainland China's middle class in expansion drive, unswayed by ...

Tse Sui Luen Jewellery International, one of the largest Hong Kong jewellers, is betting on mainland China's rising middle class to expand in the face of a weakening yuan and trade war fears China will remain "The growth engine for TSL for the coming 20 years" because of the rising spending power of the middle class, said Estella Ng Yi-kum, deputy chairman and chief strategy officer at TSL, in an interview TSL's expansion plan comes as China's retail sector is showing signs of a slowdown, with the government struggling to maintain robust economic growth while cutting back on the debt that has fuelled much of that growth, all the while under the shadow of escalating trade disputes with the US.

China investment, retail sales weaken, hinting at economic slowdown The weaker currency hurts TSL, Ng said, because over half of the customers at its 31 stores in Hong Kong and Macau are from mainland China and it becomes more expensive for them to shop in Hong Kong, whose currency is pegged to the US dollar The weaker yuan also has an impact when converting TSL's assets in the mainland to Hong Kong dollars.

Hong Kong's retail recovery at threat as mainland Chinese currency weakens amid US trade war TSL may raise product prices in mainland China to counter the impact of the weak currency, Ng said. . Source