TNAG-2791-FCO40-4030-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China.-With-maps-1993 — Page 32

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21.

The

Huangtian

Airport

in

Shenzhen commenced

operation in November 1991. In the first ten months of its

operation, the airport handled 916 409 passengers,

10 887 tonnes of cargo and 8 974 aircraft movements. Arrangements had been made with 12 domestic airlines for 31 routes connecting 36 cities in China. According to a

recent press report, more than 20 international airlines

were negotiating for air services with the Shenzhen authorities (18).

International air services were

expected to start in

3

million

overseas

the spring of 1993. A total of

and domestic passengers and

20 000 tonnes of cargo were expected to be handled at the Huangtian Airport in the first year of its international

operations.

(II)

22.

Visible trade between Hong Kong and China (19)

China and Hong Kong remained each other's largest

trading partner. In 1992, China accounted for 33% of Hong Kong's total trade; reciprocally, Hong Kong accounted for

35% of China's total trade (according to China's customs

statistics). The value of visible trade between the two economies amounted to HK$628 billion in 1992, representing

an increase of 25% over a year earlier. Analysed by the

trade aggregates, China was the second largest market for

Hong Kong's domestic exports (accounting for 26% of the total), the largest market for Hong Kong's re-exports (31%), and the largest source of Hong Kong's imports (37%)

as well as re-exports (58%).

(18) In November 1992, an international airline, Cargolux, conducted its first air cargo service between the Huangtian Airport and Luxemburg on a trial basis. Subject to the result of this flight and further negotiations with China, Cargolux planned to start a twice-weekly service to Huangtian in early 1993.

(19)

Unless stated otherwise, all statistics in this section are from Hong Kong's trade statistics and the growth rates are expressed in money terms.

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