The Usage of "Since"

Dear teachers,

I read news articles as follows:

[1]

From 278-million US dollars in 2013 to 543-million dollars in 2014 and 1.08-billion dollars in 2015, Korea's export of cosmetics to China doubled on-year each year over the past few years. However, as of November 2016, the export amount had only reached 1.31-billion dollars, showing a significant drop in the growth rate. Concerns are mounting for Korea as China continues to increase its restrictions on Korean products since the THAAD deployment decision.

[2]

If the conflict grows further, there’s a possibility that China will target a Korean firm on an annual investigative TV show that airs around consumer rights day in March. The Korea-China currency swap deal worth 64-trillion won expires in October, and China may reject an extension. What’s even more concerning is that China may consider pulling out Chinese capital from Korean stocks and bonds. Chinese investors sold 1.5-trillion won worth of stocks in the Korean market since the THAAD deployment decision, which is 10 times more than the sales made in 2015.

When I looked up the Longman online dictionary (http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/since),

it said as follows:

You use the present perfect before since.

You also use the past perfect before since.
You use the simple past tense after since.

Bearing those in mind, should those 2 sentences in blue on the above be corrected as follows?

Concerns are mounting for Korea as China continues to increase its restrictions on Korean products since the THAAD deployment decision.

=> Concerns are mounting for Korea as China has continued to increase its restrictions on Korean products since the THAAD deployment decision.

Chinese investors sold 1.5-trillion won worth of stocks in the Korean market since the THAAD deployment decision, which is 10 times more than the sales made in 2015.

=> Chinese investors have sold 1.5-trillion won worth of stocks in the Korean market since the THAAD deployment decision, which is 10 times more than the sales made in 2015.

Hope to have your feedback soon.

Thanks and best regards,

David Kim