5
Commerce and Industry
Domestic Exports
Jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, and other articles of precious or semi-precious materials formed the largest component of domestic exports, valued at $6.1 billion, or 14.2 per cent of the total value of domestic exports in 2016. Other major export items included plastics in primary and non-primary forms; tobacco manufactured; and medicinal and pharmaceutical products. The Mainland, the US and Singapore were Hong Kong's largest markets, absorbing 43.3 per cent, 8.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively of the total value of domestic exports.
Re-exports
In 2016, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof worth $1,233.7 billion were the principal commodities re-exported, accounting for 34.8 per cent of the total value of re-exports. This was followed by re-exports of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, which amounted to $739 billion, or 20.8 per cent of the total value of re-exports. The Mainland, Taiwan and South Korea were the main origins of the re-exports, while the Mainland, the US and India were the main destinations.
Manufacturing
With the relocation and expansion of manufacturing activities offshore since the 1980s, Hong Kong's role has evolved into a command and control centre with an increasingly globalised production network. Domestic manufacturing contributed 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015 and provided employment for 97,700 people in 2016, making up 2.6 per cent of overall employment.
Food and beverage producers were the largest employers in the manufacturing sector as at December 2016, followed by employers in the printing and reproduction of recorded media industries. Chart 1 shows the breakdown of manufacturing employment.
Chart 1
Others
Number of People Employed by Manufacturing Sector as at December 2016
32.6% (30,936)
Food products
and beverages
30.1% (28,572)
Rubber and plastics products
(except furniture, toys, sports
goods and stationery)
2.2% (2,132)
Fabricated metal products
(except machinery and equipment)
2.8% (2,632)
Textiles
2.8% (2,665)
Electronics 3.5% (3,331)
Printing and reproduction
of recorded media
15.5% (14,661)
Pharmaceuticals, medicinal
chemical and botanical products 5.1% (4,862)
Wearing apparel 5.3% (5,065)
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