Hong Kong During the 1950s and 60's

Hong Kong during the 1950s and 60Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s

Hong Kong is often looked upon as the capital of free trade. Located in the center of Southeast Asia, this is no small coincidence as to the regionÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s success. It is based upon effective governance and the intensive working attitude of the local people. Nevertheless, Hong Kong has had to confront numerous challenges in order to achieve its status in the world market today. In the early 1950s, Hong Kong underwent enormous changes which totally transformed its economy, society and politics. Most particularly was the large influx of Chinese refugees to this region. With effective governance and the hard work of its people, Hong Kong prospered during the 1950Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s and 1960Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s and ultimately retained its prosperity up until the cityÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s reunification by China in 1997.

When Hong Kong finally ceded to the Britain in 1943, the region had relied heavily on the entrepot trade. However, Hong Kong, prior to this, was subjected to Japanese occupation for about three and a half years, during the Second World War. They forbid all trade activities in Hong Kong and reassigned most of the regionÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s resources to support the war effort . The entrepot trade completely collapsed and Hong Kong was subjected to Ð'ÐŽÐ'§Three years and Eight months of HardshipÐ'ÐŽÐ'Ё. The population, during this period, dropped from 1.6 million to half a million during the Japanese occupation . There was no economic activities underway in the city during this war-time period. Fortunately, after the British resumed its administrative duties in Hong Kong, after the Japanese surrendered, the economy has restored and even propsered. Its import and export volumes increased steadily shortly after the war and this continued for quite some time. In fact, the total economic output dramatically increased from 1.7 billion Hong Kong Dollars in 1946 to 9.3 billion Hong Kong Dollars in 1951 . At that time, manufacturing remained, however, only a small portion of the total economic

output in the region surprisingly.

Interestingly, this situation changed radically when China got involved in the Korean War. During the war, the Chinese government supported North Korea while the USA supported South Korea. Consequently, the USA and the United Nation imposed a trade embargo upon China, limiting any trade between China and Hong Kong. Thus, the entrepot trade experienced a crisis due to the Korean War. As the largest transshipment point between China and the world, Hong KongÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s economy was damaged tremendously when trade embargoes were placed upon the region and trade was largely forbidden with other countries. It is not surprising that trading volumes dropped by over 30 percent during this three year period from1950 to 1953 .

Additionally, the 1950Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s saw the beginning of ChinaÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s cultural revolution Ð'ÐŽV an event which resulted in much confusion and instability within china itself. Thousands of Chinese elitists and capitalists were persecuted and put to death. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled China, entering Hong Kong to seek refuge and to make a new beginning. The population of Hong Kong increased from 2 million to an astounding 3.5 million within only a few years during the 1960s . The significant influx of refugees had a momentous impact upon Hong Kong and its society.

Auspiciously, not all of the refugees arriving were poor and unskilled peasants. Some of them had come from Shanghai and were regarded as wealthy capitalists and knowledgeable entrepreneurs. Furthermore, many of them brought financial capital and savvy, boosting Hong KongÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s economic output tremendously. In the early 40s, Shanghai was the center of light industry in China. Therefore, the region was world renowned for its manufacturing, textile garment industry and with respect to the manufacturing of many consumer goods. Sadly, the Communist party of China established a new government in the 1940Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s, confiscating the properties and financial gains made by these wealthy capitalists. Thus, some of these wealthy capitalists in Shanghai escaped or fled the region, bringing with them their wealth, expertise, and their knowledgeable to the Hong Kong area. After settling in Hong Kong, they start using their capital and knowledge to reestablish their businesses in the new region and this helped to restore Hong Kong as an important industial port once again.

In the beginning, most of them set up their factories in Tsunami , manufacturing clothes and textiles. This laid the foundation in Hong Kong in the textile and garment industries. Within a few years, Hong KongÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s textile and garment industry grew rapidly. In fact, Hong Kong would later become one of the top exporters of garments to Europe and the Americas. Without a doubt, the textile and garment industries were big contributors to the economic growth taking place in Hong Kong during the 1950Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s. It was during the 1950Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s and 1960Ð'ÐŽÐ'¦s which saw Hong Kong become a leader in the exporting of many consumer products and indeed led to Hong Kong becoming highly industrialized at the time . Both manufacturing and export industries are highly labour-intensive. Given that these industries produce goods for world markets, there is a huge demand of labour. In fact, almost 50 percent of labour is involved, directly or indirectly in the export and manufacturing industries . Most of the workers who were involved int these labour intensive industries were in fact refugees brought into Hong Kong from China. Due to this excessive supply of labour and the influx of so many refugees, Hong Kong industrialists were able to make substantial profits given that they could pay these type of workers such low wages. Similarly, the inflation rate was extremely low at this time only adding to accelerate economic growth in Hong Kong. It goes without saying that the influx of refugee provides capital and human resources. They also played an important role in helping transform Hong Kong during this vital period.

In addition to all the industrial changes taking place, this influx of refugee also had serious social ramifications upon the region. First of all, the demand for housing increased greatly as a result of the tremendous increase in the regionÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s population . People who could not afford to live in apartments settled in northern sections of Hong Kong Island. They build their own squatter huts along the hillsides and these areas became very densely populated . The result was that the living conditions for these refuges