ENG-1984 — Page 102

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

represents about 18 per cent of Hong Kong's domestic exports. These companies are mainly in electronics, electrical products, building and construction materials, textiles and garments, and food and beverage and chemical products.

The Hong Kong/Japan Business Co-operation Committee continued to work closely with its counterpart in Japan. During the year, apart from providing assistance and support to the Industry Department's industrial promotion work in Japan, it organised two missions to Japan, one of which was joined by the Governor as the principal guest.

Textiles and Clothing

The textiles and clothing industries are Hong Kong's largest. Together they employ about 41 per cent of the total industrial workforce and produce some 40 per cent by value of total domestic exports. The export performance of the spinning and weaving sectors improved significantly in 1984 compared with the previous year Export earnings by the clothing sector also improved substantially, despite the continued enforcement of measures contained in the export restraint agreements which govern Hong Kong's trade with its most important overseas trading partners/Total domestic exports of textiles and clothing in 1984 were valued at $55,345 million, compared with $41,448 million in 1983./

The output of cotton yarn in 1984 was 136 million kilograms, compared with 141 million kilograms in 1983. Production of man-made fibre yarn and cotton man-made fibre blended yarn was 20 million kilograms, compared with 27 million kilograms in 1983, and production of woollen and worsted yarn was four million kilograms, compared with three million kilograms the previous year. Most of the yarn produced was used locally.

The weaving sector, with 19 516 looms, produced 709 million square metres of woven fabrics of various fibres and blends, compared with 708 million square metres in 1983. The bulk of the production - 92 per cent was of cotton. Much of the fabric produced was exported in the piece, but local clothing manufacturers used the major proportion of locally woven and finished fabrics.

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The knitting sector exported 23 million kilograms of knitted fabrics

of which 27 per cent was of man-made fibres or blended cotton man-made fibres, and 72 per cent was of cotton - compared with 19 million kilograms in 1983. In addition, a large quantity of knitted fabric of all fibres was used by local clothing manufacturers.

The finishing sector of the industry provides sophisticated support facilities to the spinning, weaving and knitting sectors. It handled a large amount of textile fabrics for bleaching, dyeing, printing and finishing. The processes performed included yarn texturis- ing, multi-colour roller and screen printing, transfer printing, pre-shrinking, permanent pressing and polymerising.

The clothing sector is the largest single sector within the manufacturing industry, employing some 300 873 workers or about 33 per cent of the total industrial workforce. Domestic exports of clothing in 1984 were valued at $46,714 million, compared with $34,365 million in 1983,

Other Light Industries

The electronics industry performed remarkably well in 1984 and maintained its position as the second largest export-earner among Hong Kong's manufacturing industries. Domestic exports of electronic products in 1984 were valued at $24,624 million, compared with $18,532 million in 1983. The industry comprises 1 441 factories employing 106 413 workers. It produces a wide range of products, including integrated circuits, wafer chips for integrated circuits, electronic modules, semiconductors, liquid crystal displays, quartz