Export-dependent Asian countries feel ripple effects of trade tensions

Most export-dependent Asian economies posted slower growth in 2018 under the shadow of trade frictions between major economies, and the same frictions are affecting this year's prospects.

The world's two biggest economies, the United States and China, were also the biggest export markets for most Asia-Pacific countries, and analysts have said their trade dispute was one of the factors that weakened global demand and restrained Asian growth last year.

Japan's GDP slowed to 0.7 percent last year from 1.9 percent in 2017, while South Korea's GDP slowed to a six-year low of 2.7 percent. In Southeast Asia, Singapore's GDP was 3.2 percent, Malaysia's was 4.7 percent and the Philippines posted a three-year low of 6.2 percent, according to official information.