Hong Kong Banking Statistics
LIABILITIES (£m.)
ASSETS (£m.)
Amount due to
Amount deposit-
Amount due from
Amount deposit-
due to bunks
taking
com-
Louns and
due from taking
banks
com-
Deposits abroad panies
Other advances
abroad
panies
Other
31.12.1978 31.12.1979 31. 8.1980 30. 9.1981
5,992.9 5,138.5 692.9 6,798.5 7,368.5 2,002.9 8,501.6 9,602.0 1,974.2 10,071.6 16,262.4 4,001.0
1,362.4 6,283.9 2,415.9 8,300.5 6,643.5 2,806.0 10,228.3 8,343.9 1,658.4 5,046.9 15,824.6 12,652.5 2,679.9
5,080.6
638.6
1,183.6
1,146.3
2,495.5
2,653.2
4,224.9
(Rate of exchange used was £1 equals HK$10)
Less than three per cent of the working population is involved in farming and fishing, yet Hong Kong meets a significant proportion of the community's requirements with its production of fresh food such as vegetables, pigs, poultry and fish.
Cultivation is confined mainly to narrow valleys and alluvial lowlands which comprise the most important agricultural area.
Under the Mining Ordinance, the Crown has the ownership and control of minerals. There are currently two mining leases, five mining licences and two prospecting licences valid for different areas. Kaolin, feldspar and quartz are mined by opencast methods. Most of the feldspar is exported to Taiwan, while the quartz and kaolin are consumed by local industries.
Hong Kong harbour is one of the finest natural harbours in the world. Excellent facilities are available for loading and discharging cargoes in any form including all modern techniques of commodity movement, from 'break-bulk' through 'roll-on-roll-off" to containerization. The marine services that modern shipping requires are readily available including drydock facilities for vessels up to 100,000 tons dwt. Victoria Harbour has an area of 6,000 hectares, varying in width from 1.6 10 9.6 km. The Kwai Chung Container Terminal handled the equivalent of 1.48 million 20 ft containers in 1980. The terminal has six berths totalling more than 2,300 metres fronting on to about 85 hectares of cargo handling space. In 1980 some 10,229 ocean-going vessels called at Hong Kong and loaded and discharged 30 million tonnes of cargo.
There are over 200 shipping agencies handling vessels which link Hong Kong with the United Kingdom, Europe, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other countries in the Pacific basin. 7.1 million passengers (mostly Macao traffic) landed or embarked by sea. Frequent ferry services cross the harbour as well as linking principal islands.
Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, is situated on the mainland portion of the territory on the north shore of Kowloon Bay. It is just under five kilometres from downtown Kowloon, and has a modern runway 3,390 metres long. There are over 30 international airlines operating regular services to and from Hong Kong. Kai Tak is one of the busiest in South East Asia, handling 4.4 million passengers in the first nine months of 1981 and 209,000 tonnes of air freight estimated at HK$40,000 million. The volume of freight forwarded by air carriers accounts for about one-fifth of Hong Kong's domestic imports in terms of value, about one-quarter of its exports and about one-quarter of its re-exports. Future development of the airport is severely restricted by operational constraints such as the hilly sur- roundings, the proximity of urban areas and the scarcity of land; steps are being taken by government to determine the feasibility of building a replacement airport at Chek Lap Kok Island, off Lantau Island.
The British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) is 33.5 kilometres long connecting Kowloon with the Chinese frontier. On April 4th, 1979, a through passenger train service to Guangzhou (Canton) was reintroduced after a break of 30 years. A second express train came into operation in February 1980. At present the service, which is first class only, is limited to two trains daily each way. There are also other passenger services to Lo Wu for connections to be made for onward trains at the Shum Chun border. Mail and freight are conveyed across the border without transhipment.
During the period January to September 1981, a total of 12,963,771 passengers was conveyed on the railway, of whom 4,880,791 travelled to and from China. During the same period, 1,297,307 tonnes of dry goods and 54,560 tonnes of diesel oil and 1,611,828 head of livestock were transported.
The railway is undergoing an extensive modernisation and electrification programme. The route between Kowloon and Lo Wu is being provided with two tracks to replace the existing single line; a new double track tunnel is being built at Beacon Hill; the railway is being resignalled in the most modern form harnessing the use of electronic equipment and the computer; the route will be provided with overhead electrification at 25 kv; entirely new electric multiple unit passenger trains will be operated; the whole of the present stations will be rebuilt—some with developments on the air space above; and three new stations will be built at Kowloon Tong (which will have an interchange with the Mass Transit