was at $6.4m. the lowest since 1962-63. The affairs of The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Limited and the Ming Tak Bank continued to occupy a great deal of the time and energies of officers in the Official Receivers' Office.
12. In 1966-67 the Official Receiver as Trustee of the Ming Tak Bank completed with the help of a Government loan three multi-storey buildings which had been under construction when the Bank failed. Owing to the adverse factors prevailing at that time there was little immediate demand for the units in these buildings even at reduced prices. Despite the improvement in the property market during the year under review only one flat was sold during the year, the Committee of Inspection having advised that the Trustee should wait until the market had further advanced before making renewed efforts to sell the various properties. However, one. valuable property at Queen's Road Central was sold for $1.9m. by the mortgagee exercising its power of sale, thus substantially reducing the principal and interest payable to Government on its loans to the Trustee. Out of the income received during the year, another $800,000 was repaid to Government. All of the unsold properties have been let, and at end-March 1971 total rents being received amounted to $70,000 a month as compared with $76,000 at end-March 1970, the reduction being due to the sale of the Queen's Road Central property. The demand for and shortage of commercial and residential land, how- ever, had a marked effect on The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Limited liquidation, the sale prices of properties in this case increasing to over $2,000,000. Collection of the book debts in this liquidation also improved, the substantial total of $10,900,000 being collected. An analysis of the 1,085 debts totalling $85,950,000 outstanding at the end of the year is included in paragraph 130.
Births, Marriages and Deaths
13. The number of births registered in 1970 continued the downward trend from the peak of 115,263 in 1963 and was in fact at 77,465 the lowest total since 1953. For the tenth successive year the birth rate fell, the 1970 rate of 19.65 per 1,000 of population being 0.23 below the figure for 1969. As will be seen from the comparative rates given in paragraph 167, the Hong Kong rate is well below the estimates of 37 for Asia and 33 for the World. 1,900 births were post-registered more than one year after birth, and 255 entries made in the Adopted Children Register.
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