1
SECRET
- 3-
DSR TIC
£4.2 million worth of UK exports to China passed through Hong
Kong out of a total export value to China of £213 million. There is insufficient data on UK imports from China via Hong
However there is some Kong to permit a current estimate.
unquantifiable benefit in the use of Hong Kong by British firms as a stepping-stone for trade with China, and this is likely to grow with the development of Special Zones in the Provinces of
Guangdong and Fujian.
INVESTMENT
8. There is no recent figure for the book value of UK direct investment (i.e. investment that carries with it a voice in
the latest available is for company management) in Hong Kong: 1974, when it stood at £142 million, 1.5% of total UK direct investment. There are no figures at all for portfolio invest- ment (i.e. investment that does not give involvement in management). The latest figure for the annual flow of UK net investment (i.e. investment less dis-investment) is for 1978, when it amounted to £47.6 million, out of a total net investmen abroad of £2,394 million. Hong Kong companies invested £5.7 million in the UK, out of a total overseas investment of
£1,240 million.
EXPORT CREDIT
9.
Hong Kong is ECGD's major market in terms of the amount at risk. ECGD commitments there amount to £1,253 million, 7% of its total commitments, but £1,025 million of this was under Section II (loans made in the National Interest). If ECGD provide a Sterling buyer credit for Castle Peak 'B' Power Station, this would increase its liabilities in Hong Kong by a further £1,120 million, and cover would extend beyond 1997.
нисто Feb 1981
SECRET
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