ENG-2012 — Page 117

Chapter 5

Commerce and Industry

Hong Kong's low tax rates, first-class infrastructure, effective legal system, and free flow of capital and information all contribute to an environment in which business can flourish. The city is also an important gateway to the mainland of China, one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Hong Kong is a leading international trading and services centre as well as a high value-added manufacturing base. It is recognised as one of the freest economies in the world, and the most strategic gateway to the vast Mainland market. The Government is firmly committed to free trade and sees its task as facilitating commerce and industry within the framework of a free market. It does not impose tariffs. Regulatory measures on international trade are kept to the minimum. Hong Kong also adopts an open and liberal investment policy and proactively encourages inward investment.

Merchandise Trade Performance

Hong Kong's external trade sustained modest growth in 2012. Total merchandise trade increased by 3.4 per cent to $7,346.5 billion in 2012 compared with 2011. Domestic exports decreased by 10.4 per cent to $58.8 billion whereas that of re-exports increased by 3.2 per cent to $3,375.5 billion compared with the previous year. Imports increased by 3.9 per cent to $3,912.2 billion. A summary of external merchandise trade statistics is at Table 13 of Appendix 6. Hong Kong's biggest trading partner in 2012 was the Mainland, followed by the United States of America (USA) and Japan. In 2012, Hong Kong was the world's ninth largest trading entity in terms of value of merchandise trade.

Imports

Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof constituted the largest share of total imports in 2012 at $1,016 billion, followed by telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment ($626.7 billion) and office machines and automatic data processing machines ($409.4 billion).

In 2012, the Mainland, Japan and Singapore were Hong Kong's major suppliers, accounting for 47.1 per cent, 8 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively of the total value of imports.

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