Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1968-1969 — Page 10

continued to be made in the Crown lease section, and the total of 484 issued was the highest for any post-war year. 472 lots or sections were surrendered to the Crown, and 16 lots re-entered for breach of the lease conditions. The number of landowners (excluding mortgagees) rose by a healthy 15,646 over the previous year to the impressive total of 161,722.

Companies, Trade Marks and Patents

9. The return to more normal conditions following the 1967 disturbances stimulated business activity, and a record number of 1,868 new companies were incorporated during the year, 653 more than last year's total and 440 more than the previous record figure of 1,428 set up in 1966-67. The aggregate of all capitals was up, too, to $625m., $211m. more than in 1967-68. The most notable changes in numbers according to business are listed in paragraph 68, and include striking increases of 181 to 496 in the number of importers and exporters, of 56 to 97 in textile manufacturers, of 48 to 113 in garment manufacturers, of 36 to 68 in plastics manufacturers and of 32 to 117 in land invest- ment, the last-mentioned figure being further evidence of the improving climate in the property market. The only businesses in which there were decreases were goldsmiths and jewellers, down 7 to 13, building contractors, down 3 to 14, and hotels, down 2 to 7. 385 companies were dissolved, including 246 struck off the Register under Section 291 of the Companies Ordinance, leaving 13,372 companies on the Register at the end of the year. The number of companies incorporated outside the Colony which have established a place of business here rose by 9 to 609, including 161 companies incorporated in the United States, 93 in the United Kingdom, and 63 in Japan. With the vast amount of trade conducted in and from Hong Kong, there is also a vast amount of insurance business done, and there are as many as 207 companies conducting the regulated classes of business, including 66 United Kingdom companies, 50 Hong Kong companies and 33 United States companies.

10. Increased business activity also had its effect in the Trade Marks Registry, where the total number of applications for registration of trade marks was at 2,349, the highest yearly total ever recorded, exceeding by 424 the 1967-68 figure and by 198 the previous record of 2,151 set in 1963-64. Hong Kong led with 450 applications, followed by the United States with 419 and Japan with 242. 1,639 marks were registered and 1,722 renewed, bringing the total on the register up to

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