INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials worth some $10,324 million were imported in 1985, representing 4 per cent of total imports.
China and Japan were the two principal suppliers of imports in 1985, providing 25 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, of the total. China alone supplied 42 per cent of Hong Kong's imported foodstuffs. The United States ranked third, providing 9 per cent of total imports, followed by Taiwan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea and West Germany.
Clothing remained the largest component of domestic exports in 1985, valued at $44,912 million or 35 per cent of the total. Exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles con- sisting mainly of plastic toys and dolls; jewellery; goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares as well as artificial flowers were valued at $20,769 million, representing 16 per cent of total domestic exports. Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances consisting mainly of transistors, diodes and household type appliances amounted to $10,037 million or 8 per cent of the total. Domestic exports of photographic apparatus, equipment, supplies and optical goods, watches and clocks, valued at $10,883 million, contributed another 8 per cent to the total. Other important exports included telecommunications and sound record- ing and reproducing apparatus and equipment (7 per cent of the total); office machines and automatic data processing equipment (5 per cent) as well as textiles (6 per cent).
The direction and level of Hong Kong's export trade is much influenced by economic conditions and commercial policies in major overseas markets. In 1985, 62 per cent of all domestic exports went to the United States and the European Economic Community. The largest market was the United States ($57,687 million or 44 per cent of the total), followed by China ($15,189 million or 12 per cent), the United Kingdom ($8,546 million or 7 per cent) and West Germany ($7,998 million or 6 per cent). Domestic exports to Japan and Canada decreased to $4,480 million and $4,405 million respectively, with Japan repre- senting 3 per cent and Canada 3 per cent of total domestic exports. Other important markets were Australia and Singapore.
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Re-exports continued to increase in 1985, accounting for 45 per cent of the combined total of domestic exports and re-exports. The principal commodities re-exported were textiles ($15,999 million); electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances ($8,989 million); telecommunication and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment ($6,999 million); clothing ($7,652 million) as well as photographic apparatus, equipment and supplies and optical goods, watches and clocks ($5,575 million). The main places of origin of these re-exports were China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States. The largest re-export markets were China, the United States, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.
International Commercial Relations
Hong Kong believes in free trade. The aims of Hong Kong's external commercial relations policy are thus to safeguard its rights and to discharge its obligations in the pursuit of free trade. Certain important aspects of these rights and obligations are enshrined in various bilateral agreements as well as multilateral instruments such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA).
Textiles
Textiles trade is the major sector that has been subject to restraint. Bilateral agreements negotiated under the MFA govern Hong Kong's textiles exports to Austria, Canada, the European Economic Community (EEC), Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.