24-34  Number of Companies in Hong Kong that are Regional Headquarters by Country/Territory of the Parent Company
Item	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Number of companies in Hong Kong	944	948	966	1 098	1 167
that are regional headquarters
Country/territory of  the parent company①
United States of America	221	233	242	256	262
Japan	160	159	168	198	204
United Kingdom	90	80	86	105	115
The mainland of China	70	96	84	106	107
Germany	56	52	56	67	75
Netherlands	48	39	38	46	54
France	43	35	44	47	49
Singapore	25	26	22	35	45
Switzerland	34	36	40	39	38
Taiwan,China	22	21	18	29	33
Italy	7	10	7	15	20
Australia	15	13	22	18	18
Sweden	16	17	16	16	18
Korea	13	17	15	15	17
Canada	16	23	19	15	16
Notes : Figures refer to the first working day of June of the year.
A regional headquarters is an office that has control over the operations of offices in the region (i.e. Hong Kong plus one or more other
places), and manages the business without frequent referrals to its parent company outside Hong Kong.
In the case of a joint-ventured regional headquarters in Hong Kong, there may be more than one country/territory
of its parent company/companies.
① Prior to 2005, figures refer to the country/territory where parent companies are incorporated.  As from 2005, figures refer to the
country/territory where parent companies are located.