CONFIDENTIAL
8.
A sample of some 3,300 trade declarations in respect of exports
to China is selected for enumeration each month. While the basic information
such as trade values and types of commodities regarding the selected consignments
can be derived from the declarations, the required information on outward
processing is obtained by telephone interview with the establishsments involved.
To ensure the accuracy of the data collected by telephone interview, a subsample
of the enumerated cases is selected for verification by field visits. The
survey covers all merchandise trade except transactions not classified by
kind.
Survey results for the third quarter of 1988
9.
Based on the survey results, it is possible to make some analysis
on the trade statistics with the effect of outward processing in China discounted.
The more salient findings are summarized below.
10.
According to the trade statistics regularly compiled by the Census
& Statistics Department, if transactions not classified by kind are excluded,
the value of domestic exports to China in the third quarter of 1988 was
$10,687 million while the value of re-exports to China was $26,007 million.
China was the second largest market for Hong Kong's domestic exports, and
the largest market for Hong Kong's re-exports, in the third quarter of 1988.
11.
Applying the same basis of compilation to the survey results,
it was estimated that the value of domestic exports to China for outward
processing in the third quarter of 1988 was $7,850 million. This represented
some 73% of Hong Kong's domestic exports to China. For re-exports to China
during the same period, the estimated value of outward processing trade
was $9,622 million, which represented some 37% of Hong Kong's re-exports
to China. Total exports to China for outward processing in the third quarter
of 1988 were thus estimated to be $17,472 million or some 48% of total exports
to China.
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