IT is probably just as rude to stereotype a nation's export products as it is to stereotype its people.
But Japan and Germany will probably cope well enough with being singled out for producing pukka electronic goods and cars.
The idiot's guide to re-export trade can more or less boil the Government's latest trade figures down to ''China is booming, the people have more money, so they are spending it on German cars and Japanese stereo systems''.
Hong Kong traders spent an extra $24.98 billion buying Japanese last year and sent 71 per cent of what they bought straight to China.
The same group of re-exporters bought another $5.12 billion of German goods and earmarked them for China too.
At the same time, the value of cars and electronic goods being re-exported into China grew by 115 per cent and 83 per cent respectively. Coincidence? Probably not.
Last year was definitely a very fine year for local traders buying on international markets and selling to China. On the one hand, Japan and the West were both buyers' markets: recessions are certainly unpleasant to hang around in, but if you've got cashthere is no shortage of bargains.
