China could face job cuts amidst trade wars

Chinese SMEs are hit by slumping new orders and job losses.

China could lose as many as three million jobs if the country does not act on any countermeasures for the next round of tariffs by the US, JP Morgan said.

The job cuts, however, could be reduced to just about 700,000 should China impose retaliatory tariffs paired with a 5% depreciation in their currency value.

"As (multinational corporations) readjust their supply chains for exports to the US market to production hubs outside of China, Chinese (small and medium-sized enterprises) are facing weakening new manufacturing orders and job losses," IHS Markit Asia Pacific chief economist Rajiv Biswas told CNBC.

Biswas thinks that products such as mobile phones and smartwatches and other wearable devices could be targeted in the next round.

Before the latest round of tariffs, the US and China have already posed tariffs to US$50b worth of their bilateral goods.

Here’s more from CNBC.