CO129-571-15 Sino-Japanese War- manufacture and import of aircraft to China 18-1-1938 - 5-1-1939 — Page 54

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The Governor of Hong Kong has had to

Cocal

consider applications from two different sources

Λ

one, Anglo-American, and the other Chinese - for

permission to erect aircraft factories in the Colony

for export.

The intentions of the Anglo-American group

were explained in No. 18, viz., the manufacture of

commerical types of aircraft and also the manufacture

the suratler

of antiber types of military aircraft for export to

countries not in a position at present to construct

them for themselves.

Subsequent information shows

that this group contemplates manufacturing for export

to the British Government aircraft of the type which

the Air Ministry have had to purchase recently from

Canada and the United States owing to the absorption

home

of U.K. industry in the whore expansion programme.

The intentions of the local Chinese group

This group

of applicants are explained in No. 110.

does not contemplate the manufacture of any military

aircraft, and while it does not appear that they will

be merely engaged in assembling component parts of

aircraft not locally manufactured, we are assured that

"units and all component parts of the aeroplanes would

be imported from England".

To both groups it is no doubt a paramount consideration that there is available in Hong Kong a

supply of skilled and cheap labour as well as (in normal times) excellent shipping facilities to all

parts of the world and a pretty extensive market for

their products in China itself.

The