Frequency tablesBack

Table 3 [Q1] How is your business affected by the US slowdown? (Interviewers to read out each answer, order to be randomized by computer, multiple responses allowed)

	Frequency	% of total response (Base=717)	% of valid sample (Base=501)
No change / Not affected	132	18.4%	26.3%
Fewer orders from US buyers compared to last year	116	16.2%	23.2%
Smaller volume orders from US buyers compared to last year	105	14.6%	21.0%
Lower prices offered by US buyers compared to last year	73	10.2%	14.6%
Shifting to other markets, e.g. Europe, Middle East	64	8.9%	12.8%
US business growing compared to last year, e.g. more orders from US buyers	10	1.4%	2.0%
None of the above	212	29.6%	42.3%
Don't know/ Hard to say	5	0.7%	1.0%
Total	717	100.0%
Missing	2

Table 4 [Q2a] Which of the following are the key markets of your company? (Interviewers to read out each answer, order to be randomized by computer, multiple responses allowed)

	Frequency	% of total response (Base=1,199)	% of valid sample (Base=503)
Hong Kong	340	28.4%	67.6%
Mainland China	295	24.6%	58.6%
Rest of Asia	183	15.3%	36.4%
US	149	12.4%	29.6%
Europe	144	12.0%	28.6%
Middle East	43	3.6%	8.5%
Latin America	34	2.8%	6.8%
Others	10	0.8%	2.0%
Don't know/ Hard to say	1	0.1%	0.2%
Total	1,199	100.0%

Table 5 [Q3] Apart from legally required insurance, such as employee compensation, motor insurance and MPF, does your company have other insurance coverage for your business? If yes, what kind of insurance? (Interviewers to read out each answer for those who answer "yes", multiple responses allowed  then go to Q5)

	Freq.	%	Freq.	%	Freq.	%	Freq.	%
	Hong Kong (Base=339)		Mainland China (Base=295)		Rest of Asia (Base=181)		US (Base=149)
Demand up	56	16.5%	82	27.8%	34	18.8%	7	4.7%
Demand down	119	35.1%	77	26.1%	42	23.2%	87	58.4%
Same	161	47.5%	132	44.7%	102	56.4%	52	34.9%
Don't know/ hard to say	3	0.9%	4	1.4%	3	1.7%	3	2.0%
Total	339	100.0%	295	100.0%	181	100.0%	149	100.0%
Missing	1		--		2		--

	Freq.	%	Freq.	%	Freq.	%	Freq.	%
	Europe (Base=144)		Middle East (Base=43)		Latin America (Base=33)		Others (Base=10*)
Demand up	33	22.9%	10	23.3%	3	9.1%	2	20.0%
Demand down	50	34.7%	8	18.6%	9	27.3%	5	50.0%
Same	59	41.0%	23	53.5%	20	60.6%	3	30.0%
Don't know/ hard to say	2	1.4%	2	4.7%	1	3.0%
Total	144	100.0%	43	100.0%	33	100.0%	10	100.0%
Missing	--		--		1		--

* As the sub-sample is less than 30, while the smaller the sample size, the larger the sampling error. Findings for this part should therefore be treated as rough reference only.

Table 6 [Q3] Are you concerned about buyers' credit quality in the current environment?

	Frequency	Percentage (Base=503)
Yes	217	43.1%
No	274	54.5%
Don't know/ Hard to say	12	2.4%
Total	503	100.0%

Table 7 [Q4] How are you managing risk of non-payment from buyers? (Interviewers to read out each answer, order to be randomized by computer, multiple responses allowed)

	Frequency	% of total response (Base=754)	% of valid sample (Base=501)
Less open account trade	198	26.3%	39.5%
Greater use of trade services provided by banks	141	18.7%	28.1%
Doing less business in that market	86	11.4%	17.2%
Use of export credit insurance	86	11.4%	17.2%
Accepting smaller orders to reduce transaction size	63	8.4%	12.6%
Others	15	2.0%	3.0%
None	156	20.7%	31.1%
Don't know/ Hard to say	9	1.2%	1.8%
Total	754	100.0%
Missing	2

Table 8 [Q5] How are you increasing cost efficiency in your business today? (Interviewers to read out each answer, order to be randomized by computer, multiple responses allowed)

	Frequency	% of total response (Base=734)	% of valid sample (Base=502)
None	226	30.8%	45.0%
Changing suppliers, i.e. logistics, banks, insurers	150	20.4%	29.9%
Reducing staff	88	12.0%	17.5%
Contracting work out to cheaper locations	79	10.8%	15.7%
Relocating to less expensive area in Hong Kong	77	10.5%	15.3%
Moving own factories to cheaper locations	63	8.6%	12.5%
Moving to home office to save on commercial rent	43	5.9%	8.6%
Others	5	0.7%	1.0%
Don't know/ Hard to say	3	0.4%	0.6%
Total	734	100.0%
Missing	1

Table 9 [Q6] How do you expect your industry to look in the next 12 months?

	Frequency	Percentage (Base=503)
Same as now	211	41.9%
Fewer business than now	155	30.8%
More business than now	114	22.7%
Don't know/ Hard to say	23	4.6%
Total	503	100.0%