XN000022-1981-05-14 — Page 6

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THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1981

THE CHANGES IN IMPORTS FROM THE TEN MAJOR SOURCES ARE SUMMAR ISED AS FOLLOWS :-

JAN-MAR 81 (HK$ MN)

JAN-MAR 80 (HK$ MN)

INCREASE (HK$ MN)

PERCENTAGE

CHANGE

JAPAN

7 480

5 383

+2 097

+39

CHINA

6 044

4 419

+1 624

+37

U.S.A.

3 310

2 892

417

+14

TAIWAN

2

539

1 695

843

+50

SINGAPORE

2 307

1 532

774

+51

U.K.

1 440

1 111

329

+30

SOUTH KOREA

1 306

798

508

+64

F.R. OF GERMANY

796

745

52

SWITZERLAND

722

667

55

THA ILAND

445

413

32

LOCAL DEMAND FOR JAPANESE GOODS REMAINED STRONG. INCREASES WERE NOTED PARTICULARLY FOR ROAD VEHICLES (BY $429 MILLION OR 94 PER CENT), WATCHES AND CLOCKS (BY $312 MILLION OR 69 PER CENT), TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT (BY $222 MILLION OR 43 PER CENT) TEXTILES (BY $205 MILLION OR 27 PER CENT), AS WELL AS ELÉCTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES (BY $205 MILLION OR 39 PER CENT).

AS FOR IMPORTS FROM CHINA, INCREASES WERE RECORDED MAINLY IN TEXTILES (BY $376 MILLION OR 48 PER CENT), CLOTHING (BY $303 MILLION OR 92 PER CENT), VEGETABLES AND FRUIT (BY $97 MILLION OR 46 PER CENT), AND LIVE ANIMALS CHIEFLY FOR FOOD (BY $77 MILLION OR 24 PER CENT).

INCREASES IN IMPORTS FROM THE U.S. WERE LARGELY OF ORGANIC CHEMICALS (BY $94 MILLION OR 439 PER CENT), OFFICE MACHINES AND AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT (BY $77 MILLION OR 26 PER CENT), TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT (BY $58 MILLION OR 143 PER CENT), AS WELL AS VEGETABLES AND FRUIT (BY $55 MILLION OR 37 PER CENT). ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES WERE REGISTERED IN THE IMPORTS OF TEXTILE FIBRES (BY $124 MILLION OR 42 PER CENT) AND ARTIFICIAL RESINS AND PLASTIC MATERIALS (BY $63 MILLION OR 20 PER CENT).

SIGNIFICANT INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN THE IMPORTS OF TEXTILES (BY $451 MILLION OR 72 PER CENT) FROM TAIWAN, AND OF PETROLEUM AND RELATED PRODUCTS (BY $672 MILLION OR 71 PER CENT) FROM SINGAPORE.

THE FOLLOWING