A rebound in mainland Chinese growth and a healthy jobs market helped Hong Kong’s economy to pick up in the fourth quarter as the government announced a series of measures to help the poor in the developed world’s most unequal society.
But the territory’s full-year growth of 1.4 per cent was a sharp drop from the 4.9 per cent recorded in 2011 as the mainland Chinese economy expanded at its slowest pace for a decade.
Hong Kong delivered a strong final quarter, during which the economy expanded 2.5 per cent from a year earlier. Domestic consumption and investment spending offset weakness in trade, Hong Kong’s traditional strength, according to official figures released yesterday.