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Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
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PRIVACY MARKING
......In Confidence
BRITISH TRADE INTERESTS
Department
Last year the value of two-way trade between the
UK and Hong Kong exceeded £269 million, with the
visible balance considerably in Hong Kong's favour.
Her exports to Britain, her second biggest customer,
in 1971 amounted to £165 million, of which textiles
and clothing accounted for £103.5 million. The
strong growth in exports to Britain particularly of
polyester/cotton garments is expected to slacken
following Hong Kong's recent agreement to restrain
shipments of these items.
British exports to Hong Kong in 1971 totalled
£104 million
a 5 per cent increase on the previous
year. In the two important fields of electric and non-electrical machinery, however, Britain is doing
well, with exports in 1971 up by 11 per cent and
.
36 per cent respectively on 1970. Even so, Britain's
overall share of the Hong Kong market is declining since 1968 it has stagnated at between 9 per cent
and 8 per cent
<p>
in spite of the strong increase in
recent years in the demand for capital goods needed
for the Colony's industrial re-equipment and expansion
programmes. For these reasons, and to demonstrate
Britain's wish to strengthen traditional commercial and other ties on her impending accession to the EEC,
/a major
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