INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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countries. Hong Kong acted as host to a special meeting of APO member countries in October to lay down guide-lines for a five- year training and development programme.
TEXTILES
The textile industry not only dominates Hong Kong's economy, accounting for 49 per cent of its domestic exports and employing 40 per cent of its industrial labour force, but is also a significant factor in international trade in textiles (see International Economic Relations, below). In all sectors, the manufacture and processing of cotton goods predominate. The cotton spinning mills, operating some 767,000 spindles, are among the most up-to-date in the world. Cotton yarn counts range from 10's to 60's carded and combed, in single or multiple threads. Production of all counts in 1967 was estimated at approximately 295 million pounds, the greater part of which was consumed by local weavers. In the piecegoods weaving section, which has 22,700 looms, grey cotton drill, canvas, shirting, poplins, ginghams and other bleached and dyed cloth and prints are the main items. Production of cotton piecegoods in 1967 was estimated to be approximately 716 million square yards.- Much of this was exported as cloth, but there is an increasing tendency for garment manufacturers to use domestic materials which was encouraged this year by the reduction in supplies of grey cloth from China.
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The use of fibres other than cotton, and new processes in the finishing and garment industries, are assuming growing signifi- cance. Nine textile concerns are producing polyester-cotton and polyester-viscose yarn for weaving into shirting and other fabrics for which there is now a more rapid growth in demand than for comparable cotton products. The demand for woollen knitwear has continued to grow. The production of the woollen and worsted spinning industry goes mostly to the domestic knitting industry, although some is woven into cloth. Other woven products include silk and rayon brocade of traditional Chinese design, tapes, military webbing, lace, mosquito netting, carpets and rugs. Significant developments in the dyeing, printing and finishing sector were multi-colour screen and roller printing, pre-shrinking and per- manent-pressing by several processes under licence, and poly- merizing for the production of drip-dry fabrics.