Amid the global recession, Hong Kong’s external trade has inevitably suffered a severe downturn so far this year. In this issue of TQ, the HKTDC has to drastically revise our export forecast to drop by 10% to 12% for 2009, against the previous projected decrease of 6%. We’re also explaining in details our trade outlook for the rest of the year and our views on the performance of individual sectors. Given that China will be the first large economy set to emerge from recession, we portray the outlook for Mainland domestic sales and examine how Hong Kong can seize the initiative as an offshore Rmb centre in this issue.