ENG-1959 — Page 93

INDUSTRY AND TRADE

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in 1959, while cigarettes and tobacco leaf, antibiotics, fruits, plastic moulding compounds, textiles and machinery were also of impor- tance. The United States takes first place on the export list and fourth place on the import list.

The United Kingdom was the second biggest customer taking goods worth $462.19 million, of which $439.41 million was spent on local products. This represents an increase in total exports of $68.95 million over 1958. Exports to the United Kingdom repre- sented 19% of all Hong Kong exports and were made up largely of textiles (mainly cotton piecegoods); clothing (mainly shirts, outerwear, underwear and blouses); footwear; and miscellaneous manufactured goods such as plastic dolls and toys and artificial flowers. The United Kingdom was third on the import list with $573.72 million, also an increase over 1958. The main imports were machinery such as power cables, telegraph and telephone apparatus, electric switchgear, textile machinery, and machinery parts; iron and steel manufactures; textiles, especially woollen fabrics; and motor cars.

Malaya is of considerable importance to both the export and re-export trade taking $212.57 million of exports in 1959 9_and coming third on the export list. The most important items were clothing, books and pamphlets, refined sugar and enamelled iron and steel household utensils. Malaya was the most valuable des- tination for re-exports, to the extent of $167.54 million; the most valuable items were fruits and vegetables, plants and seeds for medicine and perfumery, finished cotton piecegoods, paper and paperboard (especially joss paper) and miscellaneous articles such as joss sticks and fountain pens. Imports from Malaya rose in value over the 1958 figure to a total of $123.06 million, of which more than a third consisted of petroleum products. Other imports of value were charcoal, rattan canes, plants and seeds for use in medicine and perfumery, spices and textile fabrics.

Although China remains the principal source of supply of the Colony's imports, the figure of $1,034.17 million from that country in 1959 showed a decrease of $362.75 million compared with 1958, and represented only 21% of the value of total imports compared with 30% in the previous year. Foodstuffs represented 49% of the value of imports from China and 41% of the total import of foodstuffs from all sources. The most valuable of these foodstuff