XN000022-1978-11-23 — Page 8

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THURSDAY, NOVELIBER 23, 1978

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THE CHANGES IN IMPORTS FROM 10 MAJOR SOURCES ARE SUMMAR I SED AS FOLLOWS:

JAN.-SEPT..77

(HK$ MN)

JAN.-SEPT.78

(HK$ MN)

INCREASE

(HK$ MN)

PERCENTAGE

CHANGE

JAPAN

8,221

10,117

+1,896

+23%

CHINA

5,702

7,312

+1,610

+28%

U.S.A.

4,428

5,460

+1,032

+23%

TAIWAN

2,375

2,919

544

+23%

SINGAPORE

2,172

2,317

145

+ 7%

UNITED KINGDOM

1,568

2,002

435

+28%

F.R. OF GERMANY

1,049

1,457

408

+39%

SWITZERLAND AND

LIECHTENSTEIN

922

1,388

465

+50%

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

1,177

1,251

74

+6%

AUSTRALIA

698

917

220

+32%

IMPORTS FROM JAPAN INCREASED BY 23 PER CENT, DUE MAINLY TO A RISE IN TEXTILE FABRICS ($1,359 MILLION, 22 PER CENT), WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($892 MILLION, +32 PER CENT), ELECTRICAL MACHINERY AND APPLIANCES ($864 MILLION, + 37 PER CENT) AND ROAD VEHICLES ($612 MILLION, +60 PER CENT).

INCREASES IN IMPORTS FROM CHINA WERE REGISTERED IN TEXTILE FABRICS ($780 MILLION, + 89 PER CENT), PETROLEUM PRODUCTS $529 MILLION, + 67 PER CENT), APPAREL AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES ($404 MILLION, + 35 PER CENT) AND FOOD ITEMS SUCH AS LIVE ANIMALS ($854 MILLION + 5 PER CENT), VEGETABLES AND FRUIT ($513 MILLION, +18 PER CENT), MEAT ($353 MILLION, 24 PER CENT) AND CEREALS ($302 MILLION,+ 14 PER CENT).

A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE WAS REGISTERED IN THE IMPORTS OF PEARLS, PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES ($524 MILLION, + 70 PER CENT) FROM THE U.S. INCREASES WERE ALSO RECORDED IN IMPORTS OF TEXTILE FIBRES ($676 MILLION, + 27 PER CENT), ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES ($458 MILLION, 13 PER CENT) AND VEGETABLES AND FRUIT ($404 MILLION, + 25 PER CENT).

IMPORTS FROM TAIWAN WERE BOOSTED BY TEXTILE YARN, FABRICS MADE-UP ARTICLES AND RELATED PRODUCTS ($1,170 MILLION, 12 PER CENT) WHILE THE INCREASE FROM SINGAPORE WAS DUE MAINLY TO MORE

IMPORTS OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($117 MILLION, + 83 PER CENT).

THE FOLLOWING TABLE ILLUSTRATES THE CHANGES IN IMPORTS BY COMMODITY SECTIONS:

/KANUFACTURED