ENG-1953 — Page 20

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

in Formosa. These included armed attacks, but in a number of cases Her Majesty's ships, acting in their traditional role in the protection of British merchant shipping on the high seas, were able to intervene successfully.

In the economic sphere the year 1953 presented some difficulties and some anxiety. The ban on strategic exports to China, following upon the United Nations' Resolution of May, 1951, and particularly the severity of the United States' embargo on supplies which might find their way to China, curtailed trading activities as in the two previous years, for Hong Kong has in the past depended very largely on the United States for its raw materials.

Probably the best that can be said is that over the year as a whole the Colony's external trade was not much worse than in 1952. Compared with imports of $3,779 million (£236 million), exports of $2,899 million (£181 million) and an adverse balance of $880 million (£55 million) for 1952, imports and exports for 1953 were $3,871 million (£242 million) and $2,734 million (£171 million) respectively, with a deficit on visible trade of $1,137 million (£71 million). The volume of commercial cargoes fell by 1% from 5,074,674 tons in 1952 to 5,021,866 tons in 1953.

A closer comparison of the two years reveals that there was a well-balanced and fairly steady improvement of $511 million (£32 milion) during the first six months of 1953. Unfortunately, the whole of this increase was off-set by a pro- gressive decline in the second half of the year. The monthly figures for imports and exports may not in themselves give an adequate guide to the course of future trade but they do indicate a disquieting trend throughout the last six months of the year. Trade figures for August, 1953, were in fact the lowest for any month since August, 1949.

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