[7] Its principal responsibility at that time was to conserve all government records of permanent value for official reference and private research.

The permanent relocation of the archives from the city centre to an industrial building in the New Territories sparked outrage among users, history scholars and legislators, who believed that the new location was too remote and were worried that records might be damaged by air pollution in Tuen Mun.

[8] The Legislative Council's information policy panel voted overwhelmingly against the move in 1993, but the relocation nevertheless proceeded on 20 July 1995.

[9] The authorities relented in October 1994 and announced to the legislators that a site in Kwun Tong has been identified for the construction of a purpose-built public records building.

The original design was later replaced by a 71,000 square foot rectangular building, with the cost rising to $85.6 million and completion date pushed back early 1997 to November 1997.

[2] The bulk of the holdings at the PRO were acquired from government agencies and belong to the Hong Kong Record Series (HKRS).

[7] The PRO also houses the Carl Smith Collection (施其樂牧師資料集), a series of 139,922 double-sided index cards with information on individuals, organisations, buildings, roads, land matters and important events relating to Hong Kong, Macau and China's coastal cities since the mid 19th century.

[15] These index cards were compiled by the Reverend Carl Thurman Smith (1918–2008) throughout his 25 years of intensive research into PRO holdings, newspapers and publications.

[17] Nevertheless, members of the public may apply to view closed records, in which case the PRO would consult the transferring agency to ascertain if the request should be granted.