The survey, commissioned by the Home Affairs Bureau and the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, finds that non-Chinese comprise just 4 percent of Hong Kong's population.

Filipinos constitutes 56.6 percent of the ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong and Indonesians account for 14.4 percent.

Most members of the ethnic minorities were women aged between 27 and 38 and working as domestic helpers. About 54.8 percent of them had completed secondary studies and 77.2 percent were earning between HK$2,000 (US$256) and HK$6,000 (US$769) a month.

Some 60.4 percent of them claimed fluency in English, with 11.2 percent in Cantonese.

The survey, conducted by a private consultant, was a first attempt at obtaining basic information on the demographic profile of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.

The survey was carried out between October 1999 and January 2000 and successfully enumerated around 9,500 households, selected at random from the 'Frame of Quarters' maintained by the Census and Statistics Department.

A summary of the main findings of the survey will be submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by way of a supplement to the report submitted in October under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

(Xinhua 01/02/2001)