XN000022-1987-04-15 — Page 4

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1987

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HK STILL LEADS WORLD IN TWO EXPORT CATEGORIES

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HONG KONG WAS THE LARGEST EXPORTER OF CLOTHING, TOYS AND GAMES IN THE WORLD IN 1985.

HONG KONG WAS ALSO THE SECOND LARGEST EXPORTER OF DOMESTIC TYPE FANS (AFTER TAIWAN) AND THE THIRD LARGEST EXPORTER OF COMPLETE WATCHES (AFTER SWITZERLAND AND JAPAN).

FOR EXPORTS OF TRAVEL GOODS AND HANDBAGS AS WELL AS RAD 10- BROADCAST RECEIVERS, HONG KONG RANKED FOURTH IN BOTH CATEGORIES (AFTER TAIWAN, ITALY AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA AND JAPAN, TAIWAN AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA RESPECTIVELY).

DETAILS OF THESE ARE CONTAINED IN THE +HONG KONG REVIEW OF OVERSEAS TRADE IN 1986+ ON SALE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AT $20 PER COPY.

THE REVIEW CONTAINS A BRIEF TEXT ON HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE PERFORMANCE IN 1986, 13 GRAPHS AND 39 STATISTICAL TABLES WITH COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR PREVIOUS YEARS.

THE REVIEW PRESENTS A SUMMARY ACCOUNT OF THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE DIRECTION AND COMPOSITION OF HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE IN 1986, INCLUDING A CONCISE AND COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF TRADE BY MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS AND BY COMMODITY CATEGORIES, AND STATISTICS ON HONG KONG'S EXPORTS PERFORMANCE IN WORLD TRADE AND IN PRINCIPAL OVERSEAS MARKETS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF MAJOR COMPETITORS.

ALSO INCLUDED ARE STATISTICS ON EXCHANGE RATES OF PRINCIPAL FOREIGN CURRENCIES AND THE EFFECTIVE (TRADE-WEIGHTED) EXCHANGE RATE INDEX FOR THE HONG KONG DOLLAR.

ACCORDING TO THE REVIEW, IMPORTS ROSE BY 19 PER CENT IN VALUE TERMS IN 1986, WHICH WAS MUCH HIGHER THAN THE GROWTH RATE OF 4 PER CENT RECORDED IN 1985. SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES WERE NOTED DURING 1986 IN THE VALUE OF IMPORTS FROM CHINA (BY $22 670 MILLION OR 38 PER CENT) AND TAIWAN (BY $3 078 MILLION OR 15 PER CENT), WHILE DECREASES WERE RECORDED FOR IMPORTS FROM SINGAPORE (BY $399 MILLION OR 4 PER CENT) AND BRAZIL (BY $289 MILLION OR 24 PER CENT).

DOMESTIC EXPORTS GREW BY 19 PER CENT IN VALUE TERMS IN 1986, AFTER SUFFERING A DECLINE OF 6 PER CENT IN 1985. THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE U.S. AND THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY INCREASED (BY $6 532 MILLION OR 11 PER CENT AND BY $3 005 MILLION OR 38 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY), WHILE THAT TO THE U.S.S.R. DECREASED (BY $161 MILLION OR 64 PER CENT).

BY COMMODITY CATEGORIES, SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH IN VALUE TERMS WAS REGISTERED FOR IMPORTS OF TEXTILE YARN, FABRICS, MADE-UP ARTICLES AND RELATED PRODUCTS (BY $8 923 MILLION OR 27 PER CENT) AS WELL AS ARTICLES OF APPAREL AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES (BY $6 630 MILLION OR 51 PER CENT).

/ON THE