HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954
number of firms with Hong Kong interests were repre- sented on the British Trade Mission which visited Peking in November. Although the value of contracts signed by members of the mission was not high, the contract made with Chinese commercial interests has been welcomed by local businessmen and it is hoped that this may open the way for an increase of mutual trade in non-strategic commodities.
Hong Kong is the principal point of contact between Communist China and the democratic world. It also provides a vantage point from which the curious can look at the mainland of China. Amongst important visitors in transit was the Rt. Hon. C. R. Attlee, O.M., C.H., M.P., the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, who was leading a Labour Party delega- tion to Peking, consisting of eight members, including Dr. Edith Summerskill, Mr. Aneurin Bevan and Mr. W. Burke. Mr. Chou En Lai also stopped in the Colony briefly on June 30th on his return to China. after the Geneva Conference. Another visit by Members of Parliament was made in September by a delegation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association led by the Rt. Hon. R. Assheton. This included Sir Roland Robinson, Sir Robert Boothby, Mr. Percy Morris and The Rev. R. Sorenson. Their desire to see conditions in Hong Kong and to under- stand the complex problems of the Colony was greatly appreciated. A further delegation of the Common- wealth Parliamentary Association including Lord Baden Powell and Lord Noel Buxton and six Members of Parliament stopped for a short while in December. Lord Rowallen, the Chief Scout, spent a week in the Colony in September. Several visitors came from the Colonial Office to observe the work of Government;
14