XN000022-1981-08-17 — Page 4

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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1981

THE CHANGES IN IMPORTS FROM THE TEN MAJOR SOURCES ARE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS -

JAN-JUNE 81 JAN-JUNE 80

(HK$M)

(HK$M)

INCREASE (HK$M)

PERCENTAGE

CHANGE

JAPAN

15 502

11 654

+3 848

+33

CHINA

13 207

9 629

+3 578

+37

US A

7 289

6 479

+ 810

+13

TAIWAN

5 207

3 652

+1 555

+43

SINGAPORE

4 870

3 376

+1 494

+44

UK

2 915

2 536

379

+15

SOUTH KOREA

2 678

1 751

927

+53

FR OF GERMANY

1 625

1 443

184

+13

SWITZERLAND

1 469

1 341

128

+10

THAILAND

918

801

117

+15

LOCAL DEMAND FOR JAPANESE GOODS REMAINED STRONG. INCREASES WERE NOTED PARTICULARLY FOR ROAD VEHICLES (BY $628 MILLION OR 62%), WATCHES AND CLOCKS (BY $608 MILLION OR 63%), TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT (BY $494 MILLION OR 48%), TEXTILES (BY $418 MILLION OR 24%), AS WELL AS ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES (BY $349 MILLION OR 30%).

AS FOR IMPORTS FROM CHINA, INCREASES WERE RECORDED MAINLY IN TEXTILES (BY $817 MILLION OR 45%), CLOTHING (BY $714 MILLION OR 90%), VEGETABLES AND FRUIT (BY $212 MILLION OR 51%) AND LIVE ANIMALS CHIEFLY FOR FOOD (BY $164 MILLION OR 23%).

INCREASES IN IMPORTS FROM THE US WERE LARGELY OF OFFICE MACHINES AND AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT (BY $180 MILLION OR 30%), ORGANIC CHEMICALS (BY $144 MILLION OR 274%), ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES (BY $134 MILLION OR 26%), AS WELL AS VEGETABLES AND FRUIT (BY $99 MILLION OR 32%).

ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES WERE REGISTERED IN THE IMPORTS OF ARTIFICIAL RESINS AND PLASTIC MATERIALS (BY $179 MILLION OR 29%), AND TEXTILE FIBRES (BY $290 MILLION OR 43%).

SIGNIFICANT INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN THE IMPORTS OF TEXTILES (BY $730 MILLION OR 54%) FROM TAIWAN, AND OF PETROLEUM AND RELATED PRODUCTS (BY $1 193 MILLION OR 55%) FROM SINGAPORE.

/THE FOLLOWING