ABSTRACT
The rapid growth of the tertiary sector is illustrative of the transformation of the Hong Kong economy. In pre-war years, the mainstay of the Hong Kong economy was entrepot trade. The process of economic restructuring in Hong Kong has been driven by two main forces. The first is its failure to upgrade its industries. The second is open policy launched by the Peoples’ Republic of China since 1978. The manufacturing industries owned and run by the Hong Kong entrepreneurs did not close down but simply relocated northward. The outcome of the economic restructuring at Hong Kong has extended Hong Kong beyond the existing border into the entire southern China with the Pearl River Delta as the immediate hinterland. The meeting points of the rail system between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the landing site of the Zhuhai-Hong Kong Bridge, the number and location of airports and the southern China aviation monitoring system are all cases in point.
