up 80 percent of the total investment in the medical and health services industry. At the end of 1974, the Hoa controlled more than 80 percent of the food, textile, chemical, metallurgy, engineering, and electrical industries, 100 percent of wholesale trade, more than 50 percent of retail trade, and 90 percent of the export-import trade. Dominance over the economy enabled the Hoa to "manipulate prices" of rice and other scarce goods. During the Vietnam War, the wealth of the Hoa increased dramatically and intensified as they seized lucrative business opportunities that came with the arrival of the American troops, who needed a trade and services network to serve their military needs. The war prompted the South Vietnamese government to gradually deregulate the economy, adopting relatively liberal market policies that caused the local Hoa to exploit local business opportunities as well as extending their economic dominance into the light industry. Throughout the war, Hoa took advantage of U.S. aid and expanded not only their trade and services networks but also their operations in other business domains. The Chinese controlled nearly all the key sectors of South Vietnam's economy such as trade, industry, banking, communications, and transportation. Of more than $100 billion poured into the war effort by the United States, a disproportionately vast amount ended up in the hands of the Chinese, effectively enriching the Hoa minority and intensifying the wealth and economic power held in Chinese hands. In 1972, Hoa owned 28 of the 32 banks in South Vietnam, handled more than 60 percent of the total volume of goods imported into South Vietnam through American aid, and comprised 84 percent of the direct and indirect shipping importers. The Hoa controlled nearly two-thirds of the amount of cash in circulation, 80 percent of the processing industry, 80 percent of the fixed assets in manufacturing, 100 percent of the wholesale trade, 50 percent of the retail trade, and 90 percent of the export and import trade. Hoa completely monopolized 100 percent of the grain trade and obtained 80 percent of the credits from South Vietnamese banks, as well as owning 42 out of the 60 companies with a turnover of more than 1 billion piasters including major banks, and accounted for two-thirds of the total annual investments in the South. Hoa were responsible for generating 75 percent of the commercial economic output in South Vietnam in 1975, including controlling 100 percent