Hong KongHong Kong has it all. It is perhaps one of the most surprising and important economic cities in the world. Being located in China at 22° 18' N 114° 10' E, places the city right in the center of Japan and Singapore, and also on many Western Pacific sea and air routes. Hong Kong did not become a successful city overnight. It was a British dependency from 1842 to July 1, 1997. The First Opium War forced China to cede Hong Kong to the British. A British-appointed governor was in charge of Hong Kong's government and military affairs. In 1984, Britain and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration and agreed that Hong Kong should return to Chinese rule in 1997 as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). The Joint Declaration and China's Basic Law, adopted in 1990, provide that the SAR can operate with a high degree of economic independence for 50 years beyond 1997. Hong Kong grew slowly during the 19th century. In 1900 there were approximately 100,000 people. The territory grew most rapidly in the 20th century, when employment in Hong Kong's developing light industries attracted Chinese immigrants. Hong Kong's greatest growth and development occurred after the Communist takeover of China in 1949, when the commercial and maritime functions of Guangzhou and Shanghai were transferred to Hong Kong. Hong Kong was the key to China's success in the world during the Chinese administration of Mao Zedong. After Mao’...