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cheapest tenements, on the upper floors.
Conclusion
Following the boom period in the 1970s, the joss stick industry is having a hard time in the 1980s. The failure of the industry to mechanize constitutes the major stumbling block to its future development. Faced with the problems of rising labour costs and labour shortage, the industry is now increasingly left in the hands of an aging labour force which averaged over 60 years of age in 1987. This decrease in overall productivity caused by aging would cope very well with the dwindling market if not for the increased competition from China. Since China's open door policy was announced in 1978, joss sticks were allowed to be produced again and production quickly resumed in Hsin-hui, Tung-kuan and Shao-hsing. The incomparably lower wages demanded in China and the availability of large pieces of cheap land enable the incense products of China to be more competitive. Though only two-grade products are currently being produced there, the potential of the Chinese supply is strongly shown in its dominance of the Hong Kong and South-East Asian markets for low-grade incense. It is generally felt that the aging of the labour force, shortage of capital, failure to mechanize factories and external competition will result in the inevitable decline of the industry in Hong Kong. The general attitude of the industry is pessimistic and a total collapse of the industry in Hong Kong within 20 years is anticipated.
Acknowledgements:
This paper is based in part on an undergraduate thesis written by the author in the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Hong Kong. The author would like to thank Dr. Richard T.A. Irving for his supervision, and Dr. Elizabeth Y.Y. Sinn and Dr. P.H. Hase for their comments and suggestions.