A look at the new challenges facing Hong Kong as one of the world’s premiere trade ports and economically free markets.
This paper examines the history of Hong Kong through the modern era and its place among the economic powerhouses of the world. Its focus is placed primarily on trade export and labor statistics, along with the new governmental reforms imposed after the nation’s return to Chinese rule. It looks at how the the overall outlook for the economy of Hong Kong, China, looks good and how, of all the Asian economies, its is by far the most resilient.
“Hong Kong was established as a separate territorial unit in 1842, as part of settlement between Britain and China following the First Opium War (1841-42). The original reason for the occupation of Hong Kong was the need for a base for trade with China. Under the Treaty of Nanjing (1842), China ceded the Hong Kong Island to Britain “in perpetuity,” opened up its ports to foreign trade, and conceded the right of extraterritoriality to British consuls. In 1860, following the Second Opium War (1858-60), China ceded the Kowloon peninsula to Britain. Finally, following the Japan-China war of 1894-95, Britain demanded the lease of the area north of Kowloon in order to secure control of the northern shore of the harbor and a wide area of land beyond for defense purposes. China leased this territory to Britain for 99 years under the Convention of Peking beginning July 1, 1898 (Dodsworth/Mihajek, 1997).”