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“...000,000
438,214,000
Note.The above estimates are adopted from the customs returns with the
exception that the figures 16,000,000 there given for the population of the
southern province of Manchuria have here been taken for the population of
the Manchurian provinces, for which they are the usually accepted figures.
Chinese census returns are not to be trusted and foreign estimates vary widely.
Thus in regard to the population of Szechuan, appearing above as 79,500,000,
the customs returns append the footnote"Estimated by A. Hosie (1904) at
45,000,000." The population of the city of Canton is estimated in the customs
report for 1908 as at least 1,250,000.
British Consular officers are stationed at the ports marked with an asterisk (*),
and also at the following provincial capitals :Moukden (Manchuria), Chinanfu
(Shantung), Chengtu (Szechuan) and Yunnanfu (Yunnan).
Estimated Foreign Population of China during the Year 1908.
Japanese ............44,143
Russian ............9,520
British .....”
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“...must be exercised in the selection of clients.
Local disasters to crops ; good crops on the ivhole.In addition to the
causes of depression mentioned above, which were more or less generally
operative throughout China, there were circumstances which adversely
affected the demand for foreign goods in various localities. Thus in
large areas in the province of Shantung the crops were practically
destroyed by drought followed by floods, and famine was only averted
by timely imports of cereals from Manchuria and Chihli, beans and
sesamum from Kiangsu, rice from Wuhu, native flour from the mills...”
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“...10
CHINA.
at Shanghai and Haichow, and Russian and American flour by way
of Chefoo. Floods did damage also in the provinces of Kwangtung,
Honan and Hupei and in Manchuria, and the rice and orange crops
were partially destroyed by typhoons at Hong-Kong, Canton and
Swatow. From Wuhu, the chief rice centre of the Yangtse, it was,
reported that the crops amounted to barely 50 per cent, of the average.
Taken however as a whole, the crops in China in 1908 were good,
and the general depression cannot be attributed to agricultural con-
ditions. Indeed it will be seen when I deal with the exports of native
produce that the Manchurian harvest of 1908 was a bumper one,
and one of the most interesting features of the year's returns is the
resulting commencement of a new trade, the export on a large scale
of beans to the United Kingdom and Europe.
Paper currency and Chinese hanks.I have already alluded to
the depreciation of the copper currency which is due chiefly to excessive
output from provincial...”
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“...and rates from
Saigon to Hong-Kong did not rise beyond 16 c. The outstanding
feature of the half-year was the abnormal export of beans from Dalny
to Europe. This traffic has been fostered by the conjunction of low
exchange with excellent harvests, and the business has gone to Dalny
owing to its better facilities for loading ocean-going steamers as
compared with Newchwang, together with the absence of likin stations
on the South Manchurian Railway Company's line. The money
which has gone into Manchuria as a result of this enormous export
is naturally expected to cause increased imports in the near future,
if it has not been already the main factor in the increase witnessed
this half-year. Manchurian farmers, who for some years past got the
merest pittance for their harvest of beans, now come into the great
markets to sell direct to the foreign dealer, and have an incentive to
cultivate more thoroughly. It is anticipated that if exchange keeps
low the Manchurian output will increase and imports...”
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“...with Table B.
Trade with Continent of Europe.With reference to Table A (c)
abovetrade with non-Asiatic countriesit may be of interest to
analyse farther the trade with the Continent of Europe, including
Russia and Siberia. For this purpose I shall include the trade with
the Pacific ports of Russia, which appears in the separate Table A (d),
for, as remarked by my predecessor in his report for 1907, the tea
trade of Russia has now gravitated to Vladivostock, whence it is
carried by rail across Manchuria and Siberia. This inclusion brings
Russia to the head of the list on the European Continent, the other
Continental countries following in the order given below :
Country. Imports. j Exports. ! Total.
Russia and Siberia ... France Germany Belgium Italy............ Netherlands ... Austria-Hungary Spain............ £ 1,153,667 320,461 1,871,898 1,126,651 67,803 170,403 151,577 215 £ 3,941,149 4,283,892 945,849 585,041 1,313,217 278,243 144,222 36,307 £ 5,094,816 4,604,353 2,817,747 1,711,692 1...”
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“...pieces. On the whole, therefore, the outlook as regards
greys and whites is not encouraging, the only hope being that there
may be an unusually brisk demand in the autumn from Manchuria and
other consuming centres. It may be interesting to compare the total
imports of British, American, Indian and Japanese plain cottons
during the last four years :
Nationality. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908.
British American J apanese Indian Pieces. 13,548,025 12,566,093 780,580 650,636 Pieces. 10,785,227 8,544,165 733,436 85,003 Pieces. 8,224,951 578,647 840,401 67,905 Pieces. 8,993,534 1,586,989 986,982 141,312
The American makes show a considerable recovery, for which
however there is still ample room considering the collapse in 1907.
The Japanese are the only ones that show a continued increase, due
chiefly to drills. Not only in Manchuria, but in North China generally
the competition of Osaka factories is making itself felt.
Fancy cottons.The trade in British fancy piece-goods has suffered
from the depression...”
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“...Hong-Kong are vigorously
pushing the sale of their sugars, especially in Manchuria and the north
generally, and are more than able to hold their own in the competition
with Japanese and Swatow sugars. The returns for Newchwang,
which, like the other Manchurian ports, did not share in the general
depression of trade, show a considerable increase in the import both
of foreign and of Chinese sugar, the figures being: ;
His Majesty's Consul at Newchwang alludes to the active competi-
tion between Hong-Kong and Japan, and suggests that it may be
further stimulated soon by beet sugar to be produced in the north of
Manchuria, where experimental farms are testing its possibilities.
Since that report was written, however, there have been serious troubles
in the Japanese sugar market which cannot fail to diminish the intensity
of the competition, and as for beet refinery, up to the end of June,
1909, at least, no Manchuria beet sugar has appeared on the market.
According to Japanese returns the total...”
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“...there came direct from Haiphong, Japan and Vladivostock,
the British and Green Island (Hong-Kong) cements being so expensive
that little was used.
Cigarettes and tobacco.The figures for the import of cigarettes,
which are expressed in the returns in unit of value only, show a con-
siderable increase, 4,793,025 Haikuan taels (639-,070?.) in 1908 against
3,714,760 Haikuan taels (603,648?.) in 1907. According to the Japanese
returns the total export of cigarettes from Japan to China (including
Manchuria and Kuantung) fell from 757,735 mille, of the value of
1,228,303 yen (122,830?.), in 1907 to 511,725 mille, valued at 860,275
yen (86,027?.), in 1908. It would appear then that the increased...”
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“...per
sack compared with 4s. 3cl. for the American. There were four flour
mills at Hankow, but none of them did well in 1908, the low exchange
precluding the use of American wheat. The growing competition of
Manchurian flour is felt in many places. It is reported from New-
chwang that some of the large Manchurian mills in Japanese hands
are encouraging the use of the native product in the south, and the
Russian mills around Harbin are doing the same in the north of
Manchuria. The Chinese embargo on the export of cereals from
Manchuria was removed during the year, and some of the Manchurian
wheat is being even exported to Japan.
The decrease in the import of rice was as marked as that in the
import of flour and due to the same causes, the quantity falling from
about 760,000 tons in 1907 to 401,000 tons in 1908.
Machinery and fittings.The value of machinery imported in 1908,
though less than in 1907, was again much greater than in previous
years, and is likely to increase as Chinese mills and...”
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“...for electric light
installations. One of the largest installations, that at Hankow, was
contracted for by a British firm. I propose to return to the subject
of machinery later in connection with industries.
Matches.The import of this necessity keeps almost constantly
increasing, in spite of the establishment of match factories in China;
23,792,300 grogs is the import according to the Chinese returns for
1908, and the Japanese returns claim the export of 18,701,739 gross
to China (including Manchuria and Kuantung), so that the proportion
of Japanese to other foreign matches may be put at nearly 80 per
cent. The import of match making materials rose from a value of
51,848?. in 1907 to 86,584?. in 1908. Even the monopoly factory at
Hankow, however, found it hard to compete with Japanese matches,
valued at about \d. per dozen boxes. His Majesty's Consul at Kiu-
kiang points out that the great difficulty under which Chinese match
manufacture labours is the want of suitable timber, even where...”
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“...province of Shantung,
where attempts have been made to reorganise the silk industry. Much
more, however, is necessary, and much more could be done with foreign
co-operation, but the present attitude of the Chinese officials and
people renders the idea of inviting such co-operation difficult to realise.
The production of wild silk, to which special attention was called
in my predecessor's report for 1907, has continued to develop and the
figures for 1908 show a large increase over those of 1907. As Manchuria
is the chief centre of cultivation of the oak-feeding silkworm, it may
be of interest to note the expansion in the export of wild raw silk and
cocoons from the Manchurian ports during the last three years, as
shown by the customs returns :
Wild raw silk ... cocoons 1906. j 1907. 1908.
Lbs. 922,933 Lbs. 1,398,666 11,303,867 i Lbs. 3,227,600 13,651,733
The shipments from Chefoo, which is the other chief port of export, were as follows :
Wild raw silk......... 1906. 1907. j 1908.
Lbs. 1...”
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“...161,892 165,698 132,643 220,647 391,817 408,619 180,336 177,694 153,741 126,824 166,101 350,057 564,751 - 22,020 + 15,802 - 11,957 5,819 - 54,546 - 41,760 + 156,132 + 17-46 - 26-65 - 0 -04 + 17*38 - 2 -05 + 6 -86- + 47
1,539,183 1,683,672 1,719,504 + 35,832
Beans.Although Japan is the destination of most of the beans
and bean cake exported from China, one of the most interesting features
of the trade of China in 1908 was the commencement of the export
on a large scale of the soya beans of Manchuria direct to Europe.
The first season of this trade only began in November, so that the full
effect of the new development is not apparent in the customs figures.
The port of Dalny, or Dairen as it is now called, is the chief seat of the
export for Europe. It is estimated that during the season which began
in November, 1908, and closed in June, 1909, over 152,000 tons of beans
were shipped from Dairen to Europe, declared mostly for Liverpool,
Hull and Bremen. The number of vessels employed for...”
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“...cattle
food has also been proved in the United Kingdom. Excellent crops
in Manchuria, low prices in gold for the produce and cheap freights
made a combination of circumstances favourable for the trade, such
as cannot reasonably be expected to occur frequently, and the
purchase of beans in the interior is, I am told, an operation involving
no small difficulty and financial risk. However, the prospects for
next season's bean trade are, on the whole, bright. Hankow also
is the outlet of a great bean-producing district, but in its competition
for direct export to Europe it is handicapped by much heavier freight,
1?. 15s. per ton against 19s. per ton. (rising afterwards bo 1?. 6s.) from
Dairen. Moreover, I am informed that some experimental shipments
of Yangtse beans made in the autumn of 1908 turned out unsuccessful,
the beans from the damper climate of Central China, although looking
just as good when shipped as the Manchuria beans, becoming mouldy
on the voyage. An increase in the export of beans...”
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“...articles not classed in the
customs returns these amount to a total value of 3,732,009?., and the
relative value of each can be seen by reference to the list on page 47.
With the exception of firewood and wheat flour, which go across the
northern frontier of Manchuria, native opium, which is exported to
French Indo-China, and varnish, which finds its principal foreign
market in Japan, the unenumerated articles are really exports from one
port of China to another, and owe their inclusion in the list of exports
to foreign countries to the accident of transhipment at Hong-Kong.
The customs report on the foreign trade of China for 1908 remarks
that the great exportation of firewood seems to point to deforestation
on an alarming scale in Manchuria, and also calls attention to the
amount of flour which crossed the frontier439,815 cwts., value
178,895?.as an earnest of the food-producing possibilities of Man-
churia.
IV. Shipping.
The following table gives the total number of vessels and tonnage
of...”
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“...some 900,000 Haikuan taels by the custom-houses in
Manchuria was balanced by a decrease of the same amount in Chihli,
while Shanghai, the chief importing centre, fell off by 1,400,000
Haikuan taels, almost all in import duty.
Railways opened or under construction.The progress made in
recent years in the extension of railways has been fully dealt with
in previous reports, and I propose only to indicate briefly here the lines
opened or under construction during the year 1908 and such of the
various projects of railways development as have received sufficient
official support to justify inclusion under the heading of lines projected.
The following is a list of railways completed during 1908 or under
construction in that year. The gauge is 4 feet inches except where
otherwise stated :
South Manchurian Railway {Japanese).Conversion of the following
lines from 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 8J- inches gauge was completed in
May, 1908 :
North Manchuria. Tsitsihar-Ang-ang-chi Railway, 16 miles, metre
gauge...”
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