ENG-1954 — Page 338

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954

population quickly reached and surpassed its pre-war level, producing a housing problem which became acute when, as the result of the success of the Communist armies in the Chinese civil war, thousands more Chinese, particularly from Shanghai and other centres of Chinese commerce, started entering the Colony as refugees. This second phase in the Colony's increase of population began in 1947, and to-day it is about 2 millions.

The history of Hong Kong in the post-war period is a record of great achievement in every phase of endeavour. The experience of previous years, with its emphasis on banking and then on commercial expansion, has had an important bearing on the industrial develop- ment which has been a great feature of recent years. The mills and factories at Shum Shui Po, Tsun Wan, To Kwa Wan, Shau Ki Wan and elsewhere are evidence of the great effort which has made Hong Kong a considerable industrial centre. Side by side with this, commercial development has grown to an extent which would not have been thought possible a few years ago.

Extensive public works have been and are being carried out, among them the scheme for a better airport in a most difficult locality, the big waterworks project at Tai Lam Chung, the largest ever undertaken here. A new hospital to meet the needs of the community is projected, and dozens of other undertakings in various parts of the Colony have been completed and others begun. Private enterprise has also contributed to this expansion, and the emphasis on construction, which has brought about a revolution in housing in Hong Kong needed to provide accommodation for the Colony's teeming population, has done much to alter the appearance of Hong Kong and Kowloon.

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