§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will give details about the outward processing arrangement between Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Channon[pursuant to the reply, 19 December 1983]: There is no formal agreement between Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China concerning outward processing. There are informal arrangements which allow the sub-contracting of intermediate processes of manufacture to places outside Hong Kong, but a certificate of Hong Kong origin is only issued if the terminal or origin-conferring process has been carried out by a factory in Hong Kong. The arrangements are in line with international practice.