2. The island was ceded to Great Britain in January, 1841, the cession being confirmed by the Treaty of Nanking in August, 1842. The charter bears the date of 5th April, 1843. The Kowloon peninsula and Stonecutter's Island were ceded to Great Britain under the Convention signed at Peking in October, 1860, and under the Convention signed at Peking in June, 1898, the area known as the New Territories including Mirs Bay and Deep Bay was leased to Great Britain by the Government of China for 99 years.
The area of the New Territories and Islands is about 345 square miles.
3. The importance of Hong Kong has grown with the increase of China's trade with foreign countries. It is now, in respect of tonnage entered and cleared, one of the largest ports in the world. It is the most convenient outlet for the produce of South China as well as for the incessant flow of Chinese emigration to the Netherlands East Indies, Malaya, and elsewhere. It is also the natural distributing centre for imports into China from abroad.
4. The Colony is not to any extent a manufacturing centre, its most flourishing industries being those connected directly or indirectly with shipping, such as dock and warehouse, banking and insurance undertakings.
5. The climate of Hong Kong is sub-tropical, the winter being normally cool and dry and the summer hot and humid; the seasons are marked by the prevalence of the S.W. monsoon in summer and the N.E. monsoon in winter. The temperature seldom rises above 95°F or falls below 40°F. The average rainfall is 85.50 inches, May to September being the wettest months. In spring and summer, the humidity of the atmosphere is often very high, at times exceeding 95% with an average over the whole year of 77%. The typhoon season may be said to last from June to October, though typhoons occasionally occur before and after this period.
6. The rainfall for 1931 was 80.39 inches. The mean temperature of the air was 72°.4 against an average of 71°.9. The maximum gust velocity of the wind was at the rate of 136 m.p.h. from E.N.E. on August 1st, when a typhoon passed within 50 miles to the S.W. of Hong Kong.
7. Amongst the principal events of general interest in the year 1931 may be mentioned the visit to the Colony in February of the British Economic Mission to the Far East under the chairmanship of Sir Ernest Thompson, and the visit of the Currency Commission under the chairmanship of Mr. W. F. Clegg sent out by the Colonial Office in April to report on the Colony's currency problems.