Part 380

National holiday: Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)

Constitution: the Letters Patent together with the Royal Instructions form the written constitution of Hong Kong; new Basic Law approved in March 1990 in preparation for scheduled reversion to China on 1 July 1997

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 100,000 professionals of electoral college and functional constituencies

Executive branch: chief of state : Queen ELIZABETH II of the UK (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Governor and President of the Executive Council Christopher Francis PATTEN (since 9 July 1992); Chief Secretary Anson CHAN Fang On-Sang (since 29 November 1993) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor elections: none; the queen is a hereditary monarch; governor appointed by the queen

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council (60 seats; 30 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 20 elected by popular vote, and 10 elected by election committee; members serve four-year terms); note - the Legislative Council will be replaced by a provisional legislature on 1 July 1997 elections: indirect and direct elections last held 17 September 1995; note - elections for the first post-reversion Legislative Council are scheduled to be held in 1998 election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 21, Liberal Party 10, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong 6, other parties and independents 23; note - subsequent to the election, there has been a change in the distribution of seats; the new distribution is as follows - Democratic Party 19, Liberal Party 10, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong 6, other parties and independents 25

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party, Martin LEE, chairman; Liberal Party, Allen LEE, chairman; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, TSANG Yuk-shing, chairman; Hong Kong Democratic Foundation, Dr. Patrick SHIU Kin-ying, chairman

Political pressure groups and leaders: Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL), Frederick FUNG Kin Kee, chairman; Liberal Democratic Federation, HU Fa-kuang, chairman; Federation of Trade Unions (pro-China), LEE Chark-tim, president; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Confederation of Trade Unions (pro-democracy), LEE Cheuk-yan, chairman; Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, CHEUNG Man-kwong, president; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, Szeto WAH, chairman

International organization participation: APEC, AsDB, BIS (pending member), CCC, ESCAP (associate), ICFTU, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (dependent territory of the UK)

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Consul General Richard A. BOUCHER consulate(s) general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong mailing address: PSC 464, Box 30, FPO AP 96522-0002 telephone: 2523-9011 FAX : 2845-1598

Flag description: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with the Hong Kong coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms contains a shield (bearing two junks below a crown) held by a lion (representing the UK) and a dragon (representing China) with another lion above the shield and a banner bearing the words HONG KONG below the shield note: to be replaced on 1 July 1997 by a red flag with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center

Economy

Economy - overview: Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy with few tariffs or nontariff barriers. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Manufacturing and construction account for about 18% of GDP. Goods and services exports account for about 50% of GDP. Real GDP growth averaged a remarkable 8% in 1987-88, slowed to 3.0% in 1989-90, and picked up to 4.2% in 1991, 5.0% in 1992, 5.2% in 1993, 5.5% in 1994, 4.8% in 1995, and 4.7% in 1996. A shortage of labor continues to put upward pressure on prices and the cost of living. Prospects for 1997 remain bright so long as major trading partners continue to be reasonably prosperous and so long as investors feel China will support free market practices after the takeover on 1 July 1997.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $163.6 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.7% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $26,000 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture : 0.2% industry: 18.4% services: 81.4% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 6.5% (1996)

Labor force: total: 3.251 million (1996) by occupation: wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 34.4%, services 19.8%, manufacturing 14.2%, financing, insurance, and real estate 12.4%, transport and communications 5.1%, construction 2.1%, other 12% (1994)

Unemployment rate: 3.1% (1996 est.)

Budget: revenues: $19 billion expenditures: $14.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $289 million (FY95/96 est.)

Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks

Industrial production growth rate: -2.6% (1996)

Electricity - capacity: 10.32 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 25.14 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 3,716 kWh (1995 est.)