China-Hong Kong Trade

China has upstaged the United States and Japan as Hong Kong’s largest trading partner and will maintain that position at least throughout 1994, according to a new economic report. China’s trade with Hong Kong, including imports and exports, now accounts for 33% of the territory’s total annual trade. This is more than twice the volume of trade it conducts with Japan and the United States, according to a report by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank.

China’s trade with Hong Kong has grown, the report says, because many of the territory’s manufacturers moved their production facilities to southern China and are importing increasing amounts of raw materials. China’s exports to Hong Kong have more than tripled since 1986, and imports from Hong Kong have increased almost fourfold.

People’s Republic of China’s exports and imports to and from Hong Kong, in millions of dollars:

Year Exports Imports 1986 $ 9.8 $ 5.6 1987 13.8 8.4 1988 18.2 12.0 1989 21.9 12.5 1990 27.1 14.6 1991 32.1 17.5 1992 37.5 20.5

Sources: International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg Business News.

Researched by ADAM S. BAUMAN / Los Angeles Times