INDUSTRY AND TRADE
mainly of jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, plastic toys and dolls, and plastic articles were valued at $22,152 million, representing nine per cent of domestic exports. Exports of office machines and automatic data-processing equipment valued at $20,530 million, contributed another nine per cent to the total. Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances mainly of household-type appliances, transistors and diodes amounted to $20,138 million or nine per cent of the total. Photographic apparatus, equipment, supplies and optical goods, watches and clocks were valued at $18,879 million (eight per cent of the total). Other important exports included textiles (seven per cent) as well as telecom- munications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (six 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 1992, 46 per cent of all domestic exports went to the United States and the European Community. The largest market was the United States, ($64,600 million or 28 per cent of the total); China, ($61,959 million or 26 per cent); Germany, ($15,956 million or seven per cent); and the United Kingdom, ($12,541 million or five per cent). Domestic exports to Japan and Singapore increased to $10,997 million and $10,360 million respectively. Other important markets were Taiwan, Canada, the Netherlands and France.
Re-Exports
Re-exports showed a very significant increase in 1992. Their gross total value accounted for 75 per cent of the combined total of domestic exports and re-exports. Principal commodities re-exported were miscellaneous manufactured articles, ($97,316 million); clothing, ($78,095 million); textiles, ($67,744 million); telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, ($55,763 million); electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, ($53,746 million); as well as footwear ($35,327 million). The main origins of these re-exports were China, Japan, Taiwan, the United States and the Republic of Korea. Largest re-export markets were China, the United States, Japan, Germany and Taiwan.
External Commercial Relations
Hong Kong possesses full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations. The Governor has been formally entrusted with executive authority to conduct external relations on behalf of Hong Kong, namely to conclude and implement trade agreements, whether bilateral or multilateral, with states, regions and international organisations and to conduct all other aspects of external commercial relations.
Hong Kong is a contracting party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the basic aim of which is to liberalise world trade and ensure the conduct of trade in a non-discriminatory and stable manner. The Hong Kong Government, which pursues a free trade policy, is one of the best examples of GATT principles in action. The success of the policy is evidenced by the steady rise in the value and sophistication of Hong Kong's exports in recent years. Within the context of this free trade policy, Hong Kong's commercial relations are designed to ensure that Hong Kong's trading rights in overseas markets are protected and its international obligations are fulfilled.
GATT is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's external trade relations, while the Multi- Fibre Arrangement (MFA), which aims at the orderly development and expansion of
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