ENG-2009 — Page 143

Commerce and Industry 95

while re-exports slipped 11.8 per cent to $2,411.3 billion compared with the previous year. Imports decreased by 11 per cent to $2,692.4 billion.

Hong Kong's biggest trading partner in 2009 was the Mainland, followed by the United States (US) and Japan. In 2009, 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 2009 at $720.9 billion, followed by telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment ($368.6 billion) and office machines and automatic data processing machines ($246.9 billion).

In 2009, the Mainland, Japan and Taiwan were Hong Kong's major suppliers, accounting for 46.4 per cent, 8.8 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively of the total value of imports.

Domestic Exports

Telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment was the largest component of domestic exports, valued at $7.9 billion or 13.6 per cent of the total value of domestic exports in 2009. Other major export items included jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, and other articles of precious or semi-precious materials; plastics in primary forms; and electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts.

The Mainland, the US and Singapore were Hong Kong's largest markets during the year, absorbing 46.2 per cent, 12.7 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively of the total value of domestic exports.

Re-exports

In 2009, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts worth $645.8 billion were the principal commodities re-exported (26.8 per cent of the total value of re-exports). This was followed

was followed by re-exports of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, which amounted to $406.7 billion (16.9 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 continued providing employment for 133 300 people (3.8 per cent of overall employment) in 2009.