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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 13 DECEMBER 2006  
 
PRESS/TPRB/274 
13 December 2006 
 
(06-5951) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: HONG KONG (CHINA) 
A strong open economy in expansio n, capable of facing challenges 
The performance of the Hong Kong, China economy and its outlook have greatly improved since 
2003, largely as a result of its continued openness  to trade and foreign investment as well as a 
solid services sector, the driving force behind grow th, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the 
trade policies and practices of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (HKSAR).  
The report notes inter alia  the importance of recent developments in the enforcement of 
intellectual property rights protection, the prospects for a comprehensive competition law, rice trade liberalization and the positive impact of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with 
China, which has given an added stimulus to the HKSAR economy. 
 The report also stresses that competitiveness in  Hong Kong, China will remain dependant on 
maintaining the traditional strengths in the economy and developing new sources of growth. 
Potential risks to its economic growth prospects might come inter alia  from a steeper than 
expected rise in US interest rates and an outb reak of protectionist measures against China. 
 
The report, along with policy statements by the au thorities of the HKSAR, will be the basis for the 
fifth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of the HKSAR by the Trad e Policy Review Body of the WTO on 13 
and 15 December 2006. 
 The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp274.htm  
 • Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  
• Report by Hong Kong, China  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/274 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Chad : 15 and 17 January 2007 
Japan : 31 January and 2 February 2007 
Argentina : 12 and 14 February 2007 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
 
END