The gap between China's imports from Hong Kong and the city's exports to the mainland jumped to its biggest on record in July, a sign that capital outflow pressures are mounting. While Hong Kong's statistics showed exports to China fell 6.2 percent in July, Chinese customs data showed imports from Hong Kong jumping 122.9 percent. That put the gap at $2.4 billion, its biggest since 2006 when data was available. The previous peak was $2.23 billion in May.
Statistical discrepancies have always existed between China's and Hong Kong's respective cross-border trade numbers, but a spike usually suggests that speculators are moving funds from the mainland because of a weakening currency.