What's the meaning of the underlined?

[Eartha]

Dear all,

What's the meaning of the underlined?
Thanks in advance.

The Chinese economy and Chinese society are riven with imbalances. It is unlikely that investors have fully priced in the risks.

First, there's the near term possibility of a trade war. China is reluctant to allow the yuan to appreciate as much as the U.S. government wants. The Chinese export industry is operating on such fine margins that any significant move in the currency rate against the dollar would threaten to bankrupt whole swathes of industry.

 

[Munch]

Dear all,

What's the meaning of the underlined?
Thanks in advance.

The Chinese economy and Chinese society are riven with imbalances. It is unlikely that investors have fully priced in the risks.

First, there's the near term possibility of a trade war. China is reluctant to allow the yuan to appreciate as much as the U.S. government wants. The Chinese export industry is operating on such fine margins that any significant move in the currency rate against the dollar would threaten to bankrupt whole swathes of industry.

"fully priced in the risks"

It means to completely include the cost that comes with a risk. When you invest money, you balance risk (the chance of losing your money) and return (the amount of money you make). The writer is saying that investing in China is riskier than people realise.

"on such fine margins"

"Fine" in this phrase means something like "thin". "Margin" means the boundary between two things. "Margin" also has a lot of meanings in business and economics. As a whole, the phrase means that costs are very close to profits - if profits decrease or costs increase, companies will fail.

 

[BobK]

:up: ;-)

This is a new (-ish?) use of the phrasal verb 'to price in X' [=to arrive at a price having taken X into consideration]. The analogue - having a longer pedigree in the Etymology Stakes - is 'to cost in': 'Have you costed in your warehousing?' = 'in setting your asking price, have you taken into consideration the costs of storing the goods?'

b