27
(2)
Memorandum by the Head of the Far Eastern
Department of the Colonial Office.
APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE FROM THE COLONIAL
DEVELOPMENT FUND FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF
HONG KONG.
The Colony of Hong Kong comprises the island
of that name, situated off the South China coast near
the mouth of the Canton River, together with a small
main) and territory known as Kowloon and the New
Territories. The total area is about 390 square miles
with a population estimated to exceed 1.075,000.
Hong Kong derives a large entrepot trade from its position as the ocean port of a considerable area of
Southern China and important banking, dock, steamship
and insurance companies have grown up. There are also some manufacturing industries, but the scale of Jocal consumption and production of commodities in the Colony is small in comparison with the scale of
its activities as a distributing centre.
As Hong Kong is a free port detailed trade
statistics are not available, but the total annual
value of its trade is estimated to stand at about
200 million pounds sterling.
Hong Kong is one of the principal ports
of the world. During 1928 26,039 vessels (of a total
tonnage of 18,805,978) entered and 26,239 vessels (with a tonnage of 18,834,716) cleared.
The