BEIJING - The "Occupy Central" movement in Hong Kong is set to negatively affect the economy of the region, an official of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

"The so-called 'Occupy Central' movement will have some negative effects on the economy of Hong Kong," Shen Danyang, spokesman of the MOC, told a press conference in response to a question.

"Even if the negative effects stop short of emerging in the short term, they will probably show up in the longer term," he added.

"As to how big the negative effects will be, experts and companies will be doing special analysis. Without doubt, many companies and ordinary people in Hong Kong have already felt the impact," said Shen.