that remain clearly British they include Standard Chartered, Inchcape, British-American Tobacco and Shell.
There are many
smaller British companies. There are also a number of large Hong Kong groups that are not controlled by British investors but
are directed or managed by a substantial number of British
personnel. These include the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and the Kadoorie Group.
5 It is difficult to establish a comprehensive figure for the total value of companies owned, controlled or influenced from
Britain. However, a review of annual reports (mostly for the year 1987) supplemented by some information given in confidence,
confirms that:
British companies have net assets in Hong Kong worth between
£2,500m and £3,000m. This includes the total net assets of
companies wholly owned from Britain and an appropriate
proportion of the net assets of companies partly owned and
controlled from Britain.
6
The total net assets of companies controlled from Britain is
at least £6,000m. This includes the assets of non-British
shareholders in British controlled companies.
The total gross stock market value of British owned,
controlled or managed companies in Hong Kong in January 1989
was £19,000m. This includes companies managed by British
personnel but not owned from Britain.
Some detail of the book value of UK net direct investment is
published by the Department of Trade and Industry as the result of a triennial inquiry. The latest published results are for the end
of 1984. At that time the book value of net direct investment
from the UK in Hong Kong was £1,538m. This was investment that gave the UK investor an effective voice in the management of the enterprise; it did not include portfolio investment. Successive
DTI surveys have shown that the value of British investment in
Hong Kong increased slowly up to 1971 (when it was £47m). In the
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