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Tech businesses voice optimism amid trade tensions

2025-04-14 HKT 14:13
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Tech businesses attending the World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit in Hong Kong on Monday expressed confidence in navigating escalating trade tensions between the United States and China.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Keeson Technology, a leading Chinese manufacturer of high-tech beds and other sleep products, said the company will not give up on the American market despite tariff pressures.

Chairman Jack Tang said that to mitigate the tariff impact, the company has diversified its supply chain across different regions, including Southeast Asia and North America.

“We will focus on building our supply chain more reasonably because our products are very popular in the US market – in fact, we've captured over 50 percent of market share,” he said.

“At its core, this isn't really about the trade war but about meeting essential consumer needs.

"With our current diversified setup, we believe we can effectively avoid the negative impacts of these trade tensions.”

Fano Labs, a locally based AI startup that specialises in speech recognition and conversation analysis for fraud detection, said it has yet to feel any impact from the US tariffs.

Co-founder and chief executive Miles Wen said that’s because of the company's software-based business model and global demand for its services.

He said the company is also looking to tap new markets for growth opportunities.

“I think there's a little bit of tension between the two big nations, but many other markets are more neutral and looking more towards economic growth," Wen said.

"That's where people can look at.

"That's also why we're looking at markets in Australia, Europe and Southeast Asia,” he said.

Wen stressed as a startup that is a spin-off from a University of Hong Kong research team, it also needs stronger support from the government as part of its efforts to bolster the city’s tech sector.

Tech businesses voice optimism amid trade tensions