Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/744

* CHINESE EMPIRE. 646 CHINESE EMPIRE. Haii^-chow Weii-fhow S«ii-tu-ao Ku-obow Anu>y Swatow Wu-tthow Sau-shui Cantou Kow-lun l^appn Kiuii^-chow Pakhoi Lnnj;-ehow Meug-tsze Sze-mao Gross value of the trade In 1899 In 1900 $8,396,00(1 $O.RS7.00 1,18(>,0(«I l.(]66.CKI0 l'.l,OtlO 479.IKI0 12.767. tloo 11.200.000 12,184,000 10. 178.000 32,961.000 SL-IOILOOO 4.470.0IHI 4.76-l.lKlO 2.166.000 1.667.000 42.809.000 3S.2.')6,000 41.268.000 34,367.000 10.037.000 O.'.HW.OOO 3.393.0(H1 2.140.000 3,024.1"10 2.S29.I-HJ0 63.U00 97.000 3,838.1KM) 3.943.00(1 130,000 136,000 of all Continental Kurope except Russia, and the- trade of Russia was only about one-half that of the United States, The figures are in haikwan tacls (taei=73 cents gold). There are to be added to these: Yatung (Tibet), rupees 1,785,397; and Kongniun and Kumchuk, for which there are no available data. Tlie most important of the above list is Shang- hai. The growth of China's foreign trade since the opening of the above treaty ports may be seen from the following table: YEAB Imports Exports 1845 810,277.000 50,496,000 64,586,000 94,778.000 125.338,000 147.891.000 148,06.'-..000 1.52.993,000 193.266,000 154,081,000 $19,098,000 1875 51.4.'v4.000 1886 44.2.54.(W0 1890 65,3r)8.0(K) 1895 107,470.000 18% 98,314,000 1897 1898 122,626,000 1899 140,838.000 1900 119,246,000 These figures show the unexampled increase in the trade of China in the year preceding the Boxer uprising, when lioth the imports and exports more than doubled in value as compared with 1890. This eiKjrnious increase was due to railways which had opened up hitherto inaccessible parts of the country to the world's trade. As the statistical secretary of the Maritime Customs of China remarks, there is no reason why these figures should not treble within a short time — as soon as railway facilities shall enable the Chinese producer to dispose of his surplus products to the foreign trader. He cannot do this at present, owing to the extremely high cost of transpor- tation. To quote from the official report: "To form an idea of what future prospects are, it is fair to make a comparison with India. The areas of the two empires are almost identical and their products very similar. I'.ut China has a larger, a more industrious, and more intelligent popula- tion: while, on the whole, the country is probably more fertile and possesses greater mineral re- sources. In the former country trade is assisted by good roads, railways, and lightness or ab- sence of taxation : in the latter, at present, it is hampered by directly opposite conditions. The result is tliot the exports from India are worth three times the exports from China. With ecpial opportunities, which the building of railways and opening of mines will bring about, the dis- crepancy should disappear." As may be gathereil fr(mi the following table of the export and import trade with the leading countries in 1800. the three closest rivals for the growing trade of China in the order of their im- portance are Great Britain. .Japan, and the United States. The value of the latter's trade in 1800 was onlv about three million dollars below that COONTBIES Great Britain UonR Kong (mostly Uritisb products) .lapuu Conriiu'iit of Kurope (i»scopt Russia).... United States India Russia Imports Exports Total from to Trade with 40,161,115 118,096,208 35.89l),745 10,172.398 22,288,745 31,911,214 3,522,404 13,962,547 71.845.568 17.251,144 189.941,766 53,147,889 36,763,506 46,933,904 21,685,715 43,974,460 1,731,498 33,642,712 18.556,992 I 22,079.396 Among the imports, cotton goods occupy the foremost place, their value in 18U9, hk, tls. 104,- 000,000, constituting nearly 40 per cent, of all the imports. According to odlcial rejjorts, Amer- ican and Japanese goods are in greatest demand and are forcing the products of other nations out of the Chinese market. In cotton yarn the Jap- anese lead. The next largest item among im- ports is represented by "sundries,' including all kinds of articles of personal use designed chiefly for comfort or luxury, such as candles, cigars, clocks and watches, lamps, perfumery, umbrellas, and soap. The value of these in 1899 had risen to nearly 112.000.000 taels, as compared with less than 90",000,000 in 1898. The same ratio is true ol oi)iiim, which formed in value about one-eighth of all the imports, in spite of its enormous pro-, duction in China. While the imports thus evi- dence an increased call for articles of personal use, the demand for raw materials, especially metals, seems as yet to be stationary, and amounts to less than 10,000,000 taels per year, or about S^^ per cent, of all tlie imports. It is this item, however, which is destined to increase most with the industrial awakening of the coun- try. The chief articles of export are all kinds of raw silk and silk products, whose value, exceed- ing 82,000,000 taels in 1899, constituted more than 40 per cent, of all the exports. Next in importance is tea, followed by other agricultural products. Chinaware, bamboo-ware, and other articles of manufacture comprise but an insig- nificant part of the exports. In addition to the foreign trade there is a large coasting trade which far exceeds the fonner. as may be seen from the figures of shipping given below. As for the inland trade, it must be exceedingly im- portant, o in? to the variety of ])roducts of the several ])rovinces of China, and to its vast popu- laticm; but there are no statistics available on this subject. The relation of the foreign to the coasting trade is seen from the following totals of shipping. In 1899 the foreign ports were rep- resented by 7000 vessels aggregating .5,479,000 tons, whereas the coastwise entries comprised 2.5.:i00 vessels of 14.147.000 tons. "The total timnage," says the oilicial report, "of entries and clearances was 39.208.000 tons; and of this total Great Britain contributed ofl per cent.; China 24 per cent.: .Tapan 7 per cent.: Germany 5 per cent.; France 2 i)er cent.: Sweden and Norway 1 per cent.: Russia 1 per cent.: and America I per cent." It is clear from the above that China controls much of her own shipping, namely, about one-third of the total coasting tonnage and one-fourth of the foreign trade tonnage. iMoreover, the Chinese shipping is increasing at