CO129-589-11 Port of Hong Kong- Report on future control and development 18-7-1941 - 10-10-1944 — Page 101

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109

Port's tonnage.

(17)

There is no record kept of the weight of all articles imported and exported, but the following table gives the total

values for the same years, as far as possible:-

Year.

Imports.

Exports.

Total.

1919

(statistics not available)

1924

607,625,078

536,208,792

1,143,833,870

1929

(statistics not available)

1934

415,918,522

325,104,653

741,023,175

1939

594,199,224

533,385,203

1,127,584,427

(18)

Note: The value of the dollar fluctuated considerably

in this period.

There has been a steady decline in the volume of the traffic of the Port since the year 1924. The cause for the recent decline is of course to be found in the interference with trade resulting from the war between China and Japan as well as the European War.

(19) A decline had, however, begun before those causes operated, and there was such cause for anxiety that in 1934 the then Governor appointed a Commission "to enquire into the causes and effects of the present trade depression in Hong Kong and make recommendations for the amelioration of the existing position and for the improvement of the trade of the Colony".

(20)

This Commission reported in 1935. It was not able to make any important recommendations for bettering the position, but it touched the root of the matter when it said "The world wide depression, a reaction from the post-war boom, was bound to touch China and therefore Hong Kong X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X. Hong Kong handles about one quarter of China's coastwise and foreign trade. She suffers, therefore, not only from the effect of the world depression on China, in which respect there is a decreased demand for China's products and labour and therefore a decreased purchasing power for imports, but also from other