COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
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Receiving overseas visitors is another major function of the division. A Visits Office was set up in September 1983 to handle parliamentary visits from the United Kingdom. The role of this office has since been expanded to include the arranging of programmes of visits and briefings for VIP visitors from all over the world. In this task the office maintains close contact with the overseas offices, commissioners and consuls-general.
Film Industry
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By the end of 1985, the number of cinemas totalled 104, compared with 95 in the previous year. As the figures show, the number of cinemas has been increasing over the last few years. The new cinemas are generally smaller and located mainly in the New Territories where there has been a rapid growth in population.
The annual cinema attendance totalled about 58 million, compared with 61 million in 1984. Going to the cinema remains a popular leisure activity, second only to watching television.
The number of locally produced films was 105 (including 13 co-productions), compared with 109 (including five co-productions) in 1984. While imported films continued to be popular, good quality local films remained the favourites with the majority of cinema patrons. The biggest box-office successes for the year included My Lucky Stars, which grossed $30.7 million, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star ($28.9 million), Rambo II ($24.6 million), and Heart of the Dragon ($20.3 million). The trend towards making locally produced films in Cantonese rather than Mandarin continued during 1985. Although action films and comedies were dominant, a number of films dealing with local problems also proved to be popular.
All films intended for public exhibition in Hong Kong must be submitted to the Panel of Film Censors which is part of the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority. Censorship standards are drawn from ascertained community views and a panel compris- ing 90 members of the public assists the film censors in reflecting community views. During the year, 618 films were submitted for censorship (including films intended for cine-clubs and cultural organisations). Of the total number submitted, 465 were approved without excisions, 146 were approved after excisions and seven were banned. These figures do not include films intended for television use.
Printing and Publishing
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Printing in Hong Kong has earned an international reputation for quality and economy. The territory's growth as a leading publishing centre has been such that there are now over 3 100 printing factories, employing around 30 000 people.
The local electronics industry has contributed in large part to the plant and equipment not only of the more sophisticated printing companies but also of publishers who have adopted data and word processing systems for editorial production and stock control. The number of data and word processor systems available exceeds 200.
The printing factories are broadly divided into the following categories: newspaper printing, general printing, and factories dealing with printing-related work such as type- setting and binding.
The readiness to introduce the latest technology – especially computerised equipment – has enabled the industry to become highly specialised. As a result, many orders have been attracted from overseas for such items as books, advertising materials, company annual reports and product catalogues. A number of overseas publishers have set up offices or regional headquarters in the territory and, in all, there are over 200 publishing houses.