Business receipts of all service industries in Hong Kong leaped forward in value in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year, due to the buoyant stock market, revealed the Census and Statistics Department's latest figures on Monday.

Financing industry business receipts overshadowed other service industries by growing 53.6 percent year on year during April-June period, according to the latest statistics.

Those for the real estate and banking industries rose 33.4 percent and 32.4 percent, respectively.

The Census and Statistics Department said the increase for the financing (except banking) industry was mainly fueled by the buoyant local stock market, while that of the real estate industry was mainly attributable to brisk trading activity in the property market.

As for the banking industry's rise in business receipts, it was mainly due to the continuous growth of non-interest income.

Other service industries that recorded more notable increases in business receipts included storage, insurance, hotels, business services and restaurants, up 23.9 percent, 21.3 percent, 12.7 percent, 12.1 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.

Analyzed by service domain, business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain rose 15.5 percent, attributable to the growth in inbound tourism, while that of the computer and information services domain grew 7.1 percent.

However, business receipts for the film entertainment industry shrank 3.8 percent in the second quarter.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11 2007)