ENG-1955 — Page 18

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

3

This may serve to give some idea of what Hong Kong people mean by an ordinary year.

INDUSTRY

The number of registered and recorded factories increased during the year from 2,494 to 2,925, and the number of people directly employed in them rose from 115,453 to 129,465. Exports of local products were largely responsible for an improvement in the Colony's total exports, which began to recover from the slump into which they fell in the second half of 1953 as a result of self-imposed restrictions necessitated by Hong Kong's obligations to the United Nations. Total exports increased by $117,000,000, from $2,417,000,000 to $2,534,000,000, local products being responsible for $48,400,000 of the increase. In terms of net income to the Colony each dollar of exports of local manufacture is probably worth 4 or 5 dollars of entrepôt trade. The level of the export trade at the end of the year was still 30% below that of the first half of 1953, but the year's partial recovery shows that the Colony's transformation from an entrepôt to a manu- facturing centre is beginning to achieve its aims.

This rapid emergence of Hong Kong as an industrial producer is naturally not being achieved without difficulties in overseas markets, both in developed and underdeveloped territories. The former inevitably dislike competition from Hong Kong in their internal and their established overseas markets, while some of the latter, eager to industrialize themselves, tend to be making a start with consumer goods of the type produced by Hong Kong. In the United Kingdom, Hong Kong cotton cloth, umbrellas and woollen gloves have been the subject of protests from manufacturers; tariff hearings were held in the United States to consider the imposition of an import quota on woollen gloves (the verdict was in favour of Hong Kong); South Africa has raised her tariffs against Hong Kong cotton piece-goods, and Australia against Hong Kong preserved ginger and rubber shoes; Trinidad has increased her duties on imported shirts, to give protection to her local shirt industry; and Canadian rubber shoe manufacturers have complained of competition from Hong Kong. These are only a few examples.

One principal line of attack against Hong Kong manufactures is to allege that they are the products of unfairly low wage rates, but it is a striking fact that in the more