INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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Imports
Hong Kong is almost entirely dependent on imported resources to meet the needs of its population of six million and its diverse industries. In 1993, imports of consumer goods, valued at $461,195 million, constituted 43 per cent of total imports. The major consumer goods imported were: clothing ($90,526 million); radios, television receivers, gramophones, records, amplifiers and tape recorders ($51,284 million); footwear ($42,482 million); baby carriages, toys, games and sporting goods ($36,429 million); and travel goods, handbags and similar containers ($21,013 million).
Imports of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods totalled $355,355 million, representing 33 per cent of total imports. The principal items imported were transistors, diodes, semi-conductors and integrated circuits ($55,847 million); woven fabrics of man-made fibres ($29,349 million); plastic materials ($28,467 million); iron and steel ($22,407 million); woven cotton fabrics ($15,231 million); and watch and clock movements, cases and parts ($15,204 million).
Imports of capital goods amounted to $202,880 million, or 19 per cent of total imports. They consisted mainly of electrical machinery ($26,819 million); transport equipment ($21,912 million); office machines ($17,743 million); scientific, medical, optical, measuring and controlling instruments and apparatus ($7,689 million); and textile machinery ($7,069 million).
Imports of foodstuffs were valued at $44,986 million, representing four per cent of total imports. The principal imported food items were fish and fish preparations ($10,426 million); fruit ($6,878 million); meat and meat preparations ($5,665 million); and vegetables ($4,228 million).
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials worth some $18,668 million were imported in 1993, representing one per cent of total imports.
China and Japan were principal suppliers of imports, providing 38 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, of the total. China alone supplied 28 per cent of Hong Kong's imported foodstuffs. Taiwan ranked third as a supplier of imports, providing nine per cent, followed by the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Exports
Clothing remained the largest component of domestic exports, valued at $71,857 million or 32 per cent of the total. Exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles, consisting mainly of jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, plastic toys and dolls, and plastic articles, were valued at $11,751 million, representing 5.3 per cent of domestic exports. Exports of office machines and automatic data-processing equipment, valued at $17,619 million, contributed another eight per cent. Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances mainly for household use, transistors and diodes amounted to $11,232 million or five per cent of the total. Photographic apparatus, equipment and supplies, optical goods, and watches and clocks were valued at $16,096 million or 7.2 per cent of the total. Other important exports included textiles (7.3 per cent) as well as telecommunications 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 1993, 43 per cent of all domestic exports went to the USA and the European Community. The largest markets