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Hong Kong，described as a‘barren rock’some 150 years ago，is today a world-class financial， trading and business centre and， indeed， a great world city.
Hong Kong has no natural resources，but it has one of the finest deep-water ports in the world. A hardworking， adaptable and well-educated workforce of about 3.64 million， coupled with entrepreneurial flair， is the bedrock of Hong Kong‘s productivity and creativity.
Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region（SAR） of the People‘s Republic of China on July 1， 1997，after a century and a half of British administration. Under Hong Kong’s constitutional document，the Basic Law， the existing economic， legal and social systems will be maintained for 50 years. The SAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy except in defence and foreign affairs.
Location
Situated at the south-eastern tip of China， Hong Kong is ideally positioned at the centre of rapidly developing East Asia. With a total area of 1 104 square kilometres，it comprises Hong Kong Island， Kowloon Peninsula， and the New Territories—the more rural part of Hong Kong，which also includes 262 outlying islands.
Population
Hong Kong‘s population was about 6.92 million in 2007. The population density was 6 410 people per square kilometre. Hong Kong had a large foreign population of about 534 000.
The three largest groups were from the Philippines（136 323）,Indonesia（131 497）and Thailand（28375）.
Language
Chinese and English are the official languages. English is widely used in the Government and by the legal， professional and business sectors. There is no shortage of well-educated， competent bilingual or even trilingual professionals who speak English， Cantonese and Putonghua， vital for any enterprise trading in Hong Kong or doing business with the Mainland and Taiwan.
Climate
Hong Kong‘s climate is sub-tropical， almost temperate for nearly half the year. Temperatures can drop below 10 degrees Celsius in winter and exceed 31 degrees Celsius in summer. About 90 per cent of the rainfall occurs between April and September.
Major International Trading Centre
Hong Kong is the world‘s 11th largest trading economy，the world’s sixth largest foreign exchange market， the world‘s 15th largest banking centre， and Asia’s third biggest stock market. Hong Kong is one of the world‘s top exporters of garments， watches and clocks， toys，games， electronic products and certain light industrial products.
Global Services Centre
Hong Kong was the world‘s 11th largest exporter of services in 2006. Travel and tourism， trade-related services， transportation services， financial and banking services and professional services are the main components of trade in services.
 International Corporate Base
As at June 2007， there were about 6 440 companies in Hong Kong representing parent companies overseas and on the Mainland. Of these， 3 890 have established regional headquarters or offices in Hong Kong. These companies employ almost 346 000 people in Hong Kong，accounting for around one in 10 Hong Kong workers. The major businesses include wholesale， retail and import/ export trades， business services （excluding information technology）， and transport and related services.
Free Trade and Free Market
Hong Kong advocates and practises free trade—a free and liberal investment regime， no trade barriers，no discrimination against overseas investors， freedom of capital movement， well-established rule of law，transparent regulations， and low and predictable taxation.
Small Government
Hong Kong has a small and efficient government structure. Corporate and personal taxes are low and simple to calculate. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （HKSAR） Government is well known for its efficiency, transparency and fairness. It readily lends a helping hand to business people and companies under the guiding principle of'market leads，government facilitates'.
Monetary System
The aim of Hong Kong‘s monetary policy is to maintain currency stability. Given the highly externally oriented nature of the economy， this aim is further defined as a stable external value for the Hong Kong dollar in terms of its linked exchange rate with the US dollar which is$7.80 to US$1. The Linked Exchange Rate System was introduced in October 1983.
 The Rule of Law
Hong Kong has a well-established and trusted legal system based on the common law. The rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people and others living here are founded on the impartial rule of law， an independent judiciary，a comprehensive system of legal aid，and a free and active press.
Airport
Hong Kong is a major international and regional aviation centre. Hong Kong International Airport， one of the busiest in the world， is served by more than 85 airlines that provide passenger and freight services from Hong Kong to over 150 destinations worldwide.
Annual passenger and cargo throughput reached 47.8 million and 3.7 million tonnes in 2007， up 7.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent over 2006， respectively. Air traffic movements during the same period increased 5.4 per cent to 295 600.
Current long-term forecasts estimate that by 2025，Hong Kong International Airport will be serving 80 million passengers and handle 8 million tonnes of cargo per year.
In addition， the airport was named the world‘s best airport for the sixth time in seven years in the 2007 annual Skytrax survey and recognised by Airports Council International in the same year as the world’s best airport among facilities serving over 40 million passengers annually.
 Port
In 2007， Hong Kong handled 24 million TEUs （20-foot equivalent units） of containers， making it one of the world‘s busiest container port. The nine container terminals at Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi are managed by five operators. Covering an area of 279 hectares， the container terminals provide 24 berths with a frontage of 7 694 metres. The water depth of the Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi basin is 15.5 metres and the total handling capacity of the terminals is over 19 million TEUs per year. During 2007， some 37 150 ocean-going vessels and 191 110 river trade vessels called at Hong Kong. These vessels handled 245.4 million tonnes of cargo and carried about 26.5 million passengers.
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