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upgrade its products;
since the early
the early 1970s Hong Kong has emerged as a rising centre of high fashion clothing products. In the mid 1970s the electronics industry, rising from its humble origins of assembling transistor parts, expanded into one capable of producing a wide range of sophisticated products (computer memory systems,
television
sets,
telecommunications equipment).
calculators
Moreover,
and
the
distinction between this industry and others became increasingly blurred, owing to the application of electronic technology to other industries, notably toys Hong Kong also continued to be the
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and watches.
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world's largest exporter
produced by both
industries.
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the
of toys, which are now
plastics and electronics
Other new light industries that have
The
a
become important in the last decade include watches and clocks,
travel goods, optical instruments, photographic goods, jewellery, and electrical appliances.
entrepôt trade with China has re-emerged as significant proportion of Hong Kong's trade in the last
few years, and service industries have expanded rapidly
as a consequence
of
rapidly growing domestic incomes
and Hong Kong's development as
an important
international financial and tourist centre.
1984
3.
economy is based on
The management of Hong Kong's
commitment to market mechani sms and free enterprise.
In 1984, the Gross Domestic Product was an estimated
HK$248,984 million (approx. £24,898 million and per capita GDP was HK$46,418 (approx. £4,641). In the seven years ending 1983 the average annual growth rate
of the GDP in real terms was
7. 7%. The growth rate of real income per capita was affected by the considerable
increase in population in 1978-80. Nevertheless, as a
result of a growth rate of 7.4% in the 1970's, real
income per capita by 1982 was more than twice that in 1972, (giving Hong Kong the highest per capita income