Manufacturing in Hong Kong

Manufacturing in Hong Kong consists of mainly light and labour-intensive industries. The manufacturing industry started in the 19th century after the Taiping Rebellion and continues today, although it has largely been replaced by service industries, particularly the finance and real estate industries.

As an entrepôt, Hong Kong had limited manufacturing development until the Second World War, when the development of manufacturing industries was discontinued due to the Japanese occupation. The manufacturing industry of the city revived after the Second World War. The 1950s saw the city's transition from an entrepôt to a manufacturing-based economy. The city's manufacturing industry grew rapidly over the next decade. The industries were diversified in different aspects in the 1970s. One of the most notable reasons of diversification was the oil crisis.

Since the 1980s, factories and industrial plants in the city have been relocated to places with lower land rental rates and labour costs, most notably the Pearl River Delta. This caused a severe drop in the manufacturing industry's share of the value of domestic imports and led to the rise of the tertiary industry. This caused unemployment problems and over-reliance on the service sector. The government is attempting to solve this through various means, including the development of high-technology manufacturing industries.

After the British acquisition of Hong Kong Island in 1842, the manufacturing industry started to develop. Most factories were limited to small workshops producing hand-made goods. Primitive methods, techniques and facilities were used for production. The productivity was low and the manufacturing industry was not as important as the re-exportation industry, which was the most important at the time.

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