2
especially after the victory of the Revolution in China, it developed into an important manufacturing economy.
Nicholas Owen distinguishes three features which mark off Hong Kong's economy from most other "developing" countries: "an insignificant primary sector; proportionately large industrial and commercial sectors; and an unusual degree of export-orientation in the manufacturing sector.'
35 In effect, Hong
Kong may be considered an urban rather than a “national” economy.
The British and Hong Kong Governments like to present the Colony as a refuge from the storm and turmoil of life in the Far East. But it would be more accurate to describe Hong Kong as essentially a parasite on China. In a real sense, Hong Kong has lived off China. Much has been made of the number of refugees who have come to Hong Kong from China, providing the Colony with its main economic asset - manpower. But it is rarely pointed out that the big- gest such flow was in the years up to 1947. The total population has varied as follows:
1931 Census
1941 Estimate
1945 Estimate
1947 Estimate
1957 Estimate
1971 Census
840,473
1,600,000
600,000
1,800,000
2,583,000
3,950,802
4,160,000
1973 Estimate
The Government's policy has not been one of open arms, as it is usually por- trayed. 36 But it has been functional for the colonial régime to accept quite large numbers of immigrants, since the two main groups have been, first, capit- alist Chinese fleeing the Revolution; and, second, assorted members of the pro- letariat, lumpen proletariat and parasitic sectors who, like the Cubans who left Cuba after 1959,37 wanted to get away for a variety of reasons. The Colony thus acquired both a sizeable corps of entrepreneurs with capital, and a suitably depressed labour force - both on the cheap.
As the Revolution advanced through China in the years 1947-49 both Chinese and foreign capitalists took fright. In particular, a large group of capit alists from Shanghai, China's leading industrial city, moved to Hong Kong, bringing with them machinery, capital, technological know-how and interna- tional contacts. The basis of Hong Kong's rapid growth was not an industrial revolution in the ordinary sense of the term, but rather a transfer of existing industry -- in this case from Shanghai to Hong Kong (a transfer which might happen again?). The Shanghainese went mainly into the textile industry, where they continue to be strong; and also into knitwear, garments, plastics and enamelware. In 1968 some 20% of the manufacturing labour force was employed in factories owned by ex-Shanghai interests. 88 Working conditions and relations in these factories would appear to be worse than average for the Colony, with highly authoritarian managements, which are "strongly profit- orientated"39 and geared to the highest possible level of exploitation.
20
It has been calculated that about two-thirds of total investment at the start