INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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Hong Kong's foodstuffs have to be imported, and food was the principal import, valued at $2,804 million, representing 19 per cent of all imports. The chief items of edible imports were rice and other cereal, fruit and vegetables, live animals, fish and fish preparations, meat and meat preparations, and dairy products and eggs. Raw materials and semi-manufactured goods for industry included textile yarn and fabrics, raw cotton, base metals and plastic mould- ing materials. Capital goods imported included machinery and transport equipment, while mineral fuels were also imported in large quantities.
The sources of imports are determined by proximity, prices, speed of delivery and by traditional trade relationships. Japan once again surpassed China as principal supplier in 1969, providing 23 per cent of all imports. Of imports from Japan, 34 per cent was textile yarn and fabrics; the rest consisted of electrical apparatus and appliances, photographic goods, watches, plastic materials and miscellaneous manufactured articles. Imports from China, the second largest supplier, accounted for 18 per cent of imports from all sources, and 48 per cent of all food imports. Other items im- ported from China included crude animal and vegetable materials, textile, fabrics, paper, china ware, clothing and base metal. Imports from the United States registered an increase of $275 million or 16 per cent. The principal imports from this source were raw cotton, tobacco, machinery, fruit, plastic materials and medicinal and pharmaceutical products.
The value of domestic exports reached $10,518 million, an in- crease of 25 per cent over the previous year. Products of the textile and garment manufacturing industries accounted for 47 per cent by value, and miscellaneous manufactured articles, mainly plastic goods, toys and dolls, and wigs, made up a further 24 per cent. Other light industrial products such as transistorized radios and electronic components, footwear, and manufactures of metals were also important exports.
The direction of Hong Kong's export trade is influenced nowadays less by such factors as tariff preference in Britain and several smaller Commonwealth markets, than by economic conditions and com- mercial policies in principal markets. During the year 56 per cent of all domestic exports by value went to two markets-the United