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SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School
Form 3 E.P.A.
1 The Economic Structure of Hong Kong
Types of production
What is economic development? Before answering this question, you have
to understand the following economic concepts first:
Primary production (初級生產)
Primary production refers to all production activities that include the
extraction of natural resources (開採天然資源). For example, farming, fishing
and mining (開礦) are primary production.
Secondary production (二級生產)
Secondary production refers to activities that turn raw materials (原料) into
semi-manufactured products (半製成品) or finished products. For example,
textile industry (製衣業), construction (建築) and manufacturing industries
are secondary industries.
Tertiary production (三級生產)
Tertiary production refers to all production activities that provide services.
For example, banking and retailing (零售業) are tertiary production.
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The interdependent relationship between three types of
production (三種生產的互相依賴關係)
Primary, secondary and tertiary industries are interdependent (互相依賴),
and each has its own importance. For example, the farming and fishing
industries provide food for us. Also, primary production supplies raw
materials for the secondary production.
Secondary production provides all kinds of goods, tools and equipment.
Tertiary production delivers (運送) these goods to the market for sale.
Therefore, every society should have all these three types of production.
The relative importance of each type of production
The following pie charts show the total value of output and the number of
people working in the three types of production. By referring to that
information, we can decide the relative importance of the three types of
production.
The importance of primary production
In Hong Kong, primary production mainly includes
farming, fishing, mining and quarrying. Since Hong
Kong is lacking in natural resources, primary
production is relatively unimportance. It is the
smallest sector in terms of the total value of output
and employment.
The importance of secondary production
Secondary
production
includes
manufacturing
industries, construction and the supply of utilities
like water, electricity and gas. Since the 1980s, the
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percentage of the total value of output and
employment for the secondary production has been
declining. It is because of the expansion of the
service industry and the shifting of manufacturing
industries to the Mainland.
The importance of tertiary production
Hong Kong is an international financial center and a
popular tourist destination. These have enhanced
the development of Hong Kong’s service industries
such as transportation, telecommunications (電訊業),
finance and insurance. As a result, the tertiary
industry becomes more and more importance. Today,
Hong Kong is one of the largest service providers in
the world.
Activity
In the last ten years, Hong Kong has experienced (經歷) a change in its
economic structure. Tertiary production contributes (貢獻) the most the
development of the economy.
Ask your parents to find out which kinds of production do they belong to.
Types
Parents
Mother
Father
Total
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
production
production
production
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Summary
1.
We may classify all economic activities into three types of production:
2.
The
interdependent
relationship
between
the
three
types
production:
3.
The development of different types of production in Hong Kong and
their relative importance:
Glossary
Primary production (初級生產)
extraction of natural resources (開採天然資源)
mining (開礦)
Secondary production (二級生產)
raw materials (原料)
semi-manufactured products (半製成品)
textile industry (製衣業)
construction (建築)
Tertiary production (三級生產)
retailing (零售業)
interdependent (互相依賴),
delivers (運送)
telecommunications (電訊業),
experienced (經歷)
contributes (貢獻)
of