Manufacturing for export

During the Korean War, the United Nations imposed an embargo against trade with China. That put an end to Hong Kong’s traditional livelihood.

Hong Kong met the challenge with a new formula for survival: manufacturing for export. The massive immigration in the 1940s and 1950s brought labour, technology and capital, which combined with Hong Kong’s old trading network to make the formula a success. Within a decade, Hong Kong became a major centre for light industries like textiles and plastics.

Over the decades, as Hong Kong workers acquire new skills,the products have become more and more sophisticated. Nowadays, Hong Kong maintains vitality in manufacturing and exports many hi-tech products.