HONG KONG, Nov 26: Hong Kong export growth increased in October on the back of the booming Chinese economy, and regional strength, government figures showed on Monday.

Hong Kong’s exports in October rose 9.8 per cent compared to a year ago to 253 billion Hong Kong dollars ($32.5 billion), after expanding 8.5 per cent in September.

“The robust mainland market continued to be the main force driving Hong Kong’s exports,” he said.

“Many other emerging markets in Asia remained fairly strong, while exports to the European Union (EU) market saw some solid growth. These factors helped offset the softness of the US market.”

Comparing October 2007 with October 2006, exports to Asia as a whole grew by 14.3 per cent. India enjoyed an increase of 75.4 per cent, Indonesia 30.6 per cent and Malaysia 21.7 per cent.

However, decreases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations, in particular Taiwan (down 6.9pc) and the USA (down 5.6 per cent), which is the territory’s second biggest export market.—AFP