TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The number of Taiwanese businesses participating in the Hong Kong International Licensing Show 2020, which opened on Monday (Jan. 6), has sharply declined amid the anti-government protests that have roiled the city for nearly seven months.

Organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the licensing show started Monday (Jan. 6) and will run through Wednesday (Jan. 8).

According to the Taipei Trade Center Hong Kong, the event saw the participation of seven Taiwanese enterprises at the arrangement of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), reported CNA. This represents a drastic decrease in the number of exhibitors from Taiwan compared to last year's 50.

Stephan Wu (巫英臣), head of the Taipei Trade Center Hong Kong, said the drop in the number of interested Taiwanese companies is related to concern over the unrest in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong International Licensing Show has been seen as a major networking platform for businesses seeking to expand their international presence, said CNA.

The persistent protests in Hong Kong have taken a toll on the economy of the Chinese semi-autonomous territory. Fitch Ratings, one of the world’s three major credit rating companies, downgraded Hong Kong’s rating from AA+ to AA in September 2019 and in December forecast that the city’s GDP was likely to have contracted by 1.5 percent in 2019, wrote South China Morning Post.