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APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1
Units of Measurement
The Legislative Council enacted a new Weights and Measures Ordinance on July 8, 1987, to replace the legislation made in 1885.
The new ordinance, which came into operation in January 1989, provides comprehensively for a modern system of units of measurement and defines the weights and measures that are lawful for use for trade in Hong Kong.
The government's long-term policy aim is that ultimately only metric units will be used in Hong Kong. However, given Hong Kong's long usage of traditional Chinese and British Imperial units, it is accepted that it will take many years before this policy aim is achieved. Furthermore, Hong Kong's heavy reliance on international trade requires that its industrialists and manufacturers must supply goods to their customers' specifications. Some of Hong Kong's major overseas markets have yet to fully adopt the metric system.
The definitions of units of measurement, and the units of measurement and permitted symbols or abbreviations of units of measurement lawful for use for trade in Hong Kong are contained in the first and second schedules to the Weights and Measures Ordinance. The Weights and Measures Conversion Table which sets out equivalent units of measurement in the Chinese, Imperial, metric and United States systems of measurement is contained in the Weights and Measures Order 1990 made under Section 7 of the Weights and Measures Ordinance. These are reproduced below.
FIRST SCHEDULE
DEFINITIONS OF UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
PART I
Measurement of Length
(a) Metric Units
1 kilometre
1 metre
=
1 000 metres
the length of the path travelled by light
in vacuum during a time interval of
299 792 458 of a second
=
1 760 yards
(b) Imperial Units
1 mile
1 furlong
1 chain
=
1 yard
1 foot
=
1 inch
1 decimetre
= 0.1 metre
1 centimetre
= 0.01 metre
1 millimetre
—
0.001 metre
(c) Chinese Units
1 chek
=
0.371 475 metre
1 tsun
= 0.1 chek
I fan
=
0.1 tsun
(a) Metric Units
1 hectare
1 are 1 square metre
1 square decimetre
1 square centimetre
= 100 ares
-
100 square metres
=
=
1 square millimetre
=
PART II
Measurement of Area
(b) Imperial Units
an area equal to that of a square each
side of which measures one metre
0.01 square metre
0.01 square decimetre
0.01 square centimetre
= 220 yards
22 yards
0.914 4 metre exactly
yard
=
yard 36
1 square mile
= 640 acres
1 acre
=
1 rood
1 square yard
1 square foot
1 square inch
1
=
144
4 840 square yards
= 1210 square yards
= an area equal to that of a square each
side of which measures one yard
square yard
square foot