Hong Kong-Gulf trade jumps 35 pct in first 5 months: financial secretary

HONG KONG, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Trade value between China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Gulf Arab countries rose over 35 percent in the first five months of this year, said Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government Paul Chan on Sunday.

The growth rate zoomed from the 5-percent annual uptick in the previous year, Chan said. Bilateral trade with the United Arab Emirates in particular surged over 52 percent in the five-month period.

Chan noted an apparent tendency to seek alternative investment destinations outside the United States and Europe in the sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf countries, because around 40 percent of their multi-billion-U.S. dollar asset allocation last year went to Asia.