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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
Production of man-made fibre yarn and cotton/man-made fibre blended yarn was 37.7 million kilograms in 1977, compared with 32.7 million kilograms in 1976, and production of woollen and worsted yarn was five million kilograms, compared with 7.1 million kilograms the previous year. Most of the yarn produced was used by local weavers.
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The weaving sector, with 30,229 looms, produced 791 million square metres of woven fabrics of various fibres and blends, compared with 920 million square metres in 1976. As in previous years, the bulk of the production 88 per cent - was of cotton. The denim boom, which was largely responsible for the increase in the produc- tion of cotton fabrics in the first half of 1976, was over but denim remained an im- portant line of production, with the trend going towards higher quality fabrics.
In 1977, the knitting sector exported 7.9 million kilograms of knitted fabrics of which 38 per cent was of man-made fibres or blended cotton/man-made fibres, and 60 per cent of cotton compared with nine million kilograms in 1976. In addition, a large quantity of knitted fabrics of all fibres was used by local clothing manu- facturers.
The finishing sector provides sophisticated supporting facilities to the spinning, weaving and knitting sectors. It handles a large amount of textile fabrics for bleach- ing, dyeing, printing and finishing. The processes performed include, among others, yarn texturising, multi-colour roller and screen printing, transfer printing, pre- shrinking, permanent pressing and polymerising.
The manufacture of clothing is the largest sector of the textiles industry, employing some 239,058 workers or about 32 per cent of the total industrial workforce. During the year, the clothing sector continued to keep up with the latest trends in fashion. But its performance also was affected by protectionist measures adopted by some importing countries and the general slow-down in world economic growth. Hong Kong's domestic exports of clothing in 1977 were valued at $13,908 million, com- pared with $14,288 million in 1976.
Other Light Industries
The electronics industry maintained its position as the second largest export-earner among Hong Kong's manufacturing industries, and recorded satisfactory growth. Domestic exports of electronic products in 1977 were valued at $4,436 million, a 12 per cent increase on the $3,971 million earned in 1976. The industry comprises 711 factories employing 70,188 workers. It produces a wide range of products, including transistor radios, computer memory systems, electronic calculators, transistors, in- tegrated circuits, semi-conductors, pre-packaged electronic modules, television sets, television games, smoke detectors and burglar alarm systems.
The plastics industry performed well in 1977. Domestic exports of plastic products were valued at $3,235 million, an increase of 28 per cent over the $2,531 million earned in 1976. The industry has 3,995 factories and 78,449 workers. Toys represent the bulk of the items produced and Hong Kong is now the world's largest supplier of toys.
The watches and clocks industry continued to expand in 1977. Production included both mechanical and electronic watches, clocks, watch cases, dials, metal watch bands, assembled watch movements and watch straps of various materials. Domestic