TUESDAY, MAY 17, 1983
6
HONG KONG LEADS WORLD IN FOUR EXPORT CATEGORIES
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HONG KONG WAS, IN TERMS OF VALUE IN 1981, THE LARGEST EXPORTER OF CLOTHING, TOYS AND DOLLS, ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS AND FANS OF DOMESTIC TYPE IN THE WORLD.
HONG KONG WAS ALSO THE SECOND LARGEST EXPORTER OF RADIO- BROADCAST RECEIVERS AFTER JAPAN, AND THE THIRD LARGEST EXPORTER OF WATCHES AFTER SWITZERLAND AND JAPAN,
DETAILS OF THESE ARE CONTAINED IN THE +HONG KONG REVIEW OF OVERSEAS TRADE IN 1982+, ON SALE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, AT $20 A COPY.
THE REVIEW CONTAINS A BRIEF TEXT ON HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE PERFORMANCE, 18 GRAPHS AND 35 STATISTICAL APPENDICES WITH COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR THE PREVIOUS YEARS.
THE REVIEW PRESENTS A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE DIRECTION AND COMPOSITION OF HONG KONG'S OVERSEAS TRADE IN 1982, INCLUDING A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF TRADE BY MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS AND BY COMMODITY CATEGORIES.
A NEW VERSION OF THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX, DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT (1.E. DOMESTIC EXPORT AND RE-EXPORT) UNIT VALUE INDEX TO THE IMPORT UNIT VALUE INDEX, IS INTRODUCED IN GRAPH 4 ON HONG KONG'S MERCHANDISE TRADE INDEXES. ALSO INCLUDED IN THE PUBLICATION ARE STATISTICS ON HONG KONG'S PERFORMANCE IN WORLD TRADE AND IN PRINCIPAL OVERSEAS MARKETS, COMPARED WITH THOSE OF MAJOR COMPETITORS.
ACCORDING TO THE REVIEW, SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES IN VALUE WERE NOTED IN IMPORTS FROM CHINA (BY $3 425 MILLION OR 12 PER CENT) AND FROM THE U.S. (BY $1 017 MILLION OR 7 PER CENT) IN 1982. AMONG THE OVERSEAS MARKETS WITH THE HIGHEST GROWTH IN VALUE
IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS WERE THE U.S. (BY $2 023 MILLION OR 7 PER CENT) AND CHINA (BY $882 MILLION OR 30 PER CENT). HOWEVER, DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO NIGERIA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM DROPPED CONSIDERABLY IN VALUE (BY $388 MILLION OR 30 PER CENT, AND BY $523 MILLION OR 7 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY).
FOR COMMODITY CATEGORIES, SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH IN VALUE WAS REGISTERED IN IMPORTS OF CLOTHING (BY $1 237 MILLION OR 24 PER CENT) AND FISH, CRUSTACEANS AND MOLLUSCS AND PREPARATIONS (BY $759 MILLION OR 38 PER CENT), WHEREAS THE COMMODITIES WITH THE HIGHEST GROWTH IN VALUE IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS WERE CLOTHING (BY $536 MILLION OR 2 PER CENT) AND ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES AND ELECTRICAL PARTS THEREOF (DY 243 MILLION OR 4 PER CENT).
THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORT TRADE ROSE BY 6 PER CENT IN 1982.
/CHINA JAS