The British Stake in Hong Kong: Trade in Goods

For three decades Hong Kong's trade has grown consistently faster than any other territory's, latterly on the basis of re-exports to and from China as production has been re-located there. Britain is no longer Hong Kong's dominant European trading partner, although its share of Hong Kong's trade remains significant and vice-versa. The paper identifies the key features of British trade with Hong Kong in recent years. It compares British performance with the other major Europeans, and examines the reasons for data discrepancies, the extent to which Britain's falling trade share is due to changes in composition, and how far indirect trade through Hong Kong explains Britain's low market share in China.