For the first time bicycles are manufactured in a Kowloon factory. The machine is modelled after British patterns and looks like one imported from Birmingham or Coventry. The entire bicycle is made locally except the tyres, which are imported from Great Britain. As there are rubber factories in Hongkong, the factory expects to turn out bicycle tyres in the near future. It is expected that these machines will be in good demand in China, as they are cheaper than one made in England.
The local machine is slightly more expensive than those made in Japan but is more durable. A special model, made for the Chinese army, can be dismantled and carried by a soldier over mountains or shallow streams.
Industrial enterprises in Hongkong are likely to prosper because of several factors—raw materials from foreign countries are cheaper than anywhere ju China, as Hongkong is a free port, The Hongkong dollar is higher than the Chinese dollar but lower than the currencies of Malaya, Java, the Phil-lippiness and Indo-China, to which manufactured goods may be exported.
These manufactured goods can be classified as Empire products and are entitled to preferential treatment as regards tariffs, but they are considered as foreign goods anywhere in China. Another advantage is that as no labour problem exists foreign goods anywhere in China. Another advantage is that no labour problem exists here at present, while it is easier to. import machinery from many parts of the world than anywhere in China proper.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.