Optimism among HK firms in Pearl River Delta

Fifty-four percent of respondents in a recent survey of Hong Kong businesses running factories in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province are optimistic about the prospects for their business, an increase compared with the annual survey last year, although those polled continued to book an increase in production costs.

About 45 percent of the respondents had a positive outlook, according to the annual survey by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries last year. Only 10 percent of the respondents are negative or very negative in this year's survey conducted last month.

About 20 percent of the enterprises in the survey received more orders, the total value of which rose by 16 percent year-on-year on average, although 60 percent of the enterprises received orders similar in value to those last year, said Stanley Lau, chairman of the federation, in a statement on Monday.