Total trade between Hong Kong and China grew substantially
during 1980:
HKS million
Hong Kong imports from China
Jan
-
Dec 1979
15,130
Jan Dec 1980
21,948
Hong Kong domestic exports to China
603
1,605
(
Hong Kong re-exports
1,315
4,642
to China
At HK$21.9 billion, imports from China increased by 45% during the year while domestic exports increased by 166%, albeit from a low base. But the most astonishing growth was registered by re-exports to China which increased nearly
three-fold and were three times the value of domestic
exports to China. A breakdown of the HK$4.6 billion re- export trade to China shows that the principal suppliers were Taiwan (HK$1,205 million), Japan (HK$904 million), and the USA (HK$337 million). Taiwan, whose re-exports to China via Hong Kong were only HK$240,000 in 1978, climbed
to the top of the table with a twelve fold increase over
its 1979 performance.
Preliminary statistics for 1980 suggest that the major sectors covered by Hong Kong re-exports to China were textile yarn, fabrics etc (HK$1,368.5 million), telecomm- unications, sound recording and reproducing apparatus (HK$443.8 million, road vehicles (HK$282.1 million), crude animal and vegetable materials (HK$ 278.9 million) and
electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances (HKS259.2 million).
These figures suggest that the sharp increase in re-exports
is due to:
a) the requirements of China's overall modernisation
programme
b) a more liberal approach to the importation of consumer
goods, probably mainly consigned to individuals
and paid for by overseas relatives
c) the development of the processing industry in
Guangdong referred to above.