ENG-2006 — Page 131

Commerce and Industry 103

10.5 per cent over 2005 to $5,060.8 billion. Domestic exports decreased by 1.1 per cent to $134.5 billion while re-exports rose by 10 per cent to $2,326.5 billion compared to the previous year. Imports increased by 11.6 per cent $2,599.8 billion. The Appendices provide summary statistics of external trade.

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Hong Kong's largest trading partner in 2006 was the Mainland, followed by the United States (US) and Japan. In 2006, Hong Kong was the world's 11th largest trading entity in terms of value of merchandise trade.

Imports

Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts constituted the largest share of total imports in 2006 at $629.1 billion, followed by telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment ($335.2 billion) and office machines and automatic data processing machines ($285 billion).

In 2006, the Mainland, Japan and Taiwan were Hong Kong's major suppliers, accounting for 45.9 per cent, 10.3 per cent and 7.5 per cent of the total value of imports respectively.

Domestic Exports

Articles of apparel and clothing accessories continued to be the largest component of domestic exports, valued at $52.2 billion or 38.8 per cent of the total value of domestic exports in 2006. At $19.5 billion, office machines and automatic data processing machines came second. Other major export items included electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts; jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, and other articles of precious or semi-precious materials.

The Mainland, the US and the Netherlands were Hong Kong's largest markets during the year, absorbing 29.9 per cent, 24.6 per cent and 5.9 per cent of the total value of domestic exports respectively.

Re-exports

In 2006, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts worth $541 billion were the principal commodities re-exported (23.3 per cent of the total value of re-exports). This was followed by the re-exports of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, which amounted to $358.1 billion (15.4 per cent of the total value of re-exports). The Mainland, Japan and Taiwan were the main origins of the re-exports, while the Mainland, the US and Japan were the main destinations.

The Manufacturing Sector

With the expansion of manufacturing activities offshore since the 1980s, Hong Kong has evolved into a strategic control centre with an increasingly globalised production network. In spite of Hong Kong's economic restructuring, the manufacturing sector remained an important sector of the economy, providing employment to 176 600 people (5.1 per cent of overall employment) in 2006.