XCX (89) 3
Page
6
Year-on-year rate of increase in the
unit value indexes of imports from China
First half
Third quarter
of 1988
of 1988
(%)
(%)
All imports
1.6
1.0
Foodstuffs
3.2
2.0
Consumer goods
-0.7
-0.5
Raw materials and
3.9
2.4
semi-manufactures
Fuels
Capital goods
-0.6
4.8
-5.7
3.8
Export subsidization by the Chinese Government and by trading enterprises, and the unofficial depreciation of the Renminbi in both the black and grey markets may explain
explain some of this phenomenon. However, the prices of goods from China did
increase significantly at the retail level, implying
implying either that the mark-ups by distributors in Hong Kong have increased significantly or that there has been some under-invoicing of goods from China to evade exchange controls. Nevertheless, although the retail prices of goods from China increased at slightly faster rate than those of other consumer goods from elsewhere, they increased
more slowly than prices China.
much
a
in