It is utilized by many foreign companies as a gateway to markets inmainlandChina. Hong Kong is a member of a variety of multilateral economic organizations,suchas the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. (5)
The effects of the Asian economic crisis on Hong Kong were significant. U.S. officials continue to work with Hong Kong officials to ensure that Hong Kong is not used byChina to illegally circumvent U.S. controls on exports of dual-use and other high technology products and to combatviolations of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is described by many observers as having the world's freesteconomy due to its low tax, free trade, and strong rule of law policies. Hong Kong is an important U.S. tradingpartnerand serves as a gateway for many U.S. companies doing business in China. For those reasons, the continuedeconomicautonomy of Hong Kong is of concern to Congress, as are a variety of trade issues such as the effectiveness of HongKong's export control regime on dual-use technologies, and protection of U.S. intellectual property rights. China. This report will be updated as events warrant.