0003230
G.F. 323
CONFIDENTIAL
13
bread if supplies of rice were restricted. Four local flour mills have an annual production potential of 195,000 metric tons or 150% in excess of Hong Kong's present annual consumption of 78,500 metric tons.
Meat General
57.
In order to give some idea of the relative importance of different meats in the pattern of local consumption the following comparison has been made as a rough guide :-
Type of Meat
Present Monthly Consumption
Average Stock in hand (in lairages, markets etc.) Number/Weight Days
Number
Weight
Live Pigs
161,600
15-20 m. lbs.
Frozen Pork
3 m. lbs.
Live Cattle
Frozen Beef
14,500
54 m. lbs.
9,000 head
1. lbs.
2-3,000 head
1층
12
4-6
.. lbs.
1
m. lbs.
60
Frozen Mutton
and Offals
Live Poultry
Frozen Poultry
Tinned Meat
N.B.
2 m. lbs.
2
m. lbs.
25
7 m. lbs.
Negligible
0
3 m. lbs.
Not known
350,000lbs.
1.
lbs.
90
58.
The days the stock might last is based on normal rates of consumption when alternativos are available.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be drawn from recent experience and from the foregoing analysis :-
a)
the supply of food for the majority of Hong Kong's people is determined to a great extent by the level of supplies, the state of communications and the policies of the administration in China;
b)
similarly the cost of this food is determined by the pricing policies applied by the Chinese agencies responsible for importing it into Hong Kong;
South China has been a traditional source of food supplies for Hong Kong since the Colony started to prosper and attract an urban population;
d)
China appears to be anxious to maintain these food supplies to Hong Kong and thus to retain this important source of foreign exchange;
e)
the livelihood of a large number of people in South China in agriculture, transportation, marketing and administration is believed to be geared to the supply of food;
CONFIDENTIAL
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