28
[statistics
CHINA
across both provinces, and including south Szechuen. The chief centres of production are at the cities of Tung-chuan-fu, Chaotung, and Ning-yuan. The mines are worked as a Government monopoly, private mining being nominally prohibited. ^ No concessions have so far been granted to foreign companies^ Ihe output is considerable, but no statistics are published by Government. The supply is not, ’however, enough to meet the requirements of the country, as foreign copper is imported to the extent of about 28,000 tons a year. It is generally supposed that if the mines were thrown open to foreign enterprise, not only would the home demand be met, but there would be a large available supply for export. t • ro.Precious dfctoZs.—There is no known source of supply in China proper where gold and silver are worked to any appreciable extent. A little gold washing is done in the sandy beds of certain rivers, for instance, the Han river and the upper Yangtse, above Suifu, which here goes by the name of the “ Goldsand ” river. The amount so extracted is extremely small and hardly pays the labour of washing, but the existence of gold grains points, no doubt, to a matrix higher up. The whole of south-western China has the reputation of being highly metalliferous, and it is probable that valuable deposits may be found when permission to prospect has been granted by the Chinese Government. Gold is obtained, however, in some quantities on the upper waters of the Amur river, on the frontier between China and Siberia. The washings are carried on by Chinese, no foreigners so far having been allowed to participate. Gold has also been found in quartz veins at Pingtu, in the province of Shantung, but hardly in paying quantities. Manufactures.—In regard to manufactures the only point to be noticed is the recent establishment of cotton spinning and weaving mills by foreign companies at Shanghai. Permission to carry on this industry was refused to foreigners until the right was secured by the Japanese treaty following on the war. Some nativeowned mills had been working before that date, and were reported to have made large profits. Eight mills with an aggregate of 800,000 spindles are now working, five of which are under foreign manao-ement. There are also four or five mills at one ot other of the ports working 80,000 spindles more. These mills are al) engaged in the manufacture of yarn for the Chinese market, very little weaving being done. Chinese-grown cotton is used, the staple of which is short, and only the coarser counts can be spun. So far these mills have not had the fimmcial success which was predicted for them, but many of the initial difficulties ■were due to inexperience, and it is probable that the cotton manufacturing industry in China will attain considerable^ proportions. The only other manufacture that deserves mention is that of silk weaving. This is carried on solely by native looms, and chiefly in the cities of Hangchow, Soochow, and Nanking. The native looms have long been famous for their beautiful silks and brocades. The greater part is destined for home consumption, but there is now also a considerable export. In 1898 the export of silk piece goods amounted in value to £1,400,000. The reeling of silk cocoons by steam machinery has also come into vogue in recent years, and is gradually supplanting the native methods. Notwithstanding the large foreign importations the spinning and weaving of cotton on native hand-looms is still carried on almost universally. The whole of the large import of Indian yarn, as well as that locally manufactured, is worked up into cloth by the women of the household.^ Four-fifths of the clothing of the lower classes is supplied by this domestic industry. Commerce.—The progress of the foreign trade of China is set out in the following table. The values are given both in currency and sterlin* but it is to be remarked that during the period when silver was faffing, that is from 1875 to 1893, the silver valuation represents much more accurately variations in the volume of trade than does the gold valuation. Gold prices fell continuously during this period, while silver prices were nearly constant. Since 1893 silver prices have tended to rise, and the gold valuation is then more accurate. The conversion from silver to gold is made at the rate of exchange of the day, and therefore varies from year to year Table of Imports and Exports, exclusive of Bullion. Exports. Imports. Equivalent in Value in Equivalent in Value in Sterling. Taels. Sterling. Taels. £23,193,000 77,308,000 £19,903,000 66,344,000 1875 87,694,000 25,582,000 22,368,000 76,689,000 1880 73,899,000 19,206,000 22,618,000 84,803,000 1885 96,695,000 24,980,000 29,213,000 1890 113,082,000 25,136,000 154,964,000 25,181,000 1895 154,685,000 25,816,000 141,685,000 23,114,000 1896 184,897,000 27,779,000 175,229,000 26,284,000 1897 185,194,000 28,498,000 170,743,000 25,612,000 1898 189,991,000 The distribution of the trade among the various countries of the world is shown in the following table :
Imports into China. (000’s omitted.) 1898. 1895. Imports from 1S75. 18S0. £5,244 £5,518 £6,396 £6,357 £6,382 Un. Kingdom £6,340 Hongkong . 8,282 8,829 9,404 18,615 14,331 14,582 4,451 6,039 4,306 2,661 2,753 2,870 India . Other British 721 732 542 346 571 396 Possessions 827 2,574 884 949 351 United States 304 Continent of Europe (ex638 1,227 1,410 671 671 cept Russia) 230 Russia in 218 291 177 Europe 45 18 54 52 50 30 Russia in Asia 746 1,021 1,404 1,909 2,794 4,156 Japan. Exports from China. (000’s omitted.) 1895. 1880. 1885. Exports to United Kingdom £8,749 £8,125 £5,864 £3,383 £1,718 Hongkong . . 3,824 4,844 4,232 8,507 5,651 449 273 323 157 72 India . . . . Other British 586 886 818 874 Possessions. . 948 United States . 2,302 2,906 2,213 2,109 2,499 Continent of Europe (except 2,524 3,760 1,948 3,004 3,440 Russia) . 959 727 252 Russia in Europe 411 928 1,252 | 1,041 1,329 1,808 Russia in Asia 2,408 1,248 642 ! 398 586 Japan .
1898. £1,607 9,312 198 558 1,798 3,889 751 1,919 2,414
The principal exports from the United Kingdom to China are cotton piece goods, woollen manufactures, metals, and machinery. China is next to India the greatest consumer of Manchester goods. The export of plain cotton cloths to China and Hongkong has for some years averaged 500,000,000 yards per annum. The only competitor which Great Britain has in this particular branch of trade is the United States of America, which within recent years has been supplying China with very large quantities of cotton goods. In 1888 China imported 70,000,000 yards of Americanmade goods, but in 1898 the import had risen to 165,000,000 yards. The value in sterling of the total imports into China from the United Kingdom has remained nearly constant for the last 25 years, but inasmuch as the gold prices have been falling the volume of the export has been in reality steadily growing. The imports into England, however, of Chinese produce have fallen off enormously, mainly through the fact that China tea has been driven out of the English market by the growth of India and Ceylon, and also because the bulk of the China silk is now shipped directly to Lyons and other Continental ports instead of to London as formerly was the rule. The growth of the import of Indian yarn into China has been very rapid. In 1884 the import was 35,000,000 lb and in 1898 it reached 188,000,000 lb. Arranged in categories the imports into China from all foreign countries for the year 1898 were as follows :— £11,012,000 Cottons and cotton yarn 440,000 Woollen manufactures 1,600,000 Metals and machinery 1,600,000 Petroleum . 3,460,000 Opium 10,370,000 Sundries . £28,482,000 Total The principal exports from China are silk and tea. These two articles, indeed, up to 1880 constituted more than 80 per cent, of the whole export. Owing, however, mainly to the fall in silver, and partly also to cheap ocean freights, it has become profitable to place on the European market a vast number of miscellaneous articles of Chinese produce which formerly found no place in the returns of trade. The silver prices in China did not change materially with the fall in silver, and Chinese produce was thus able to compete favourably with the produce of other countries. The following table shows the relative condition of the export trade in 1880 and 1898 :— 1SS0. Exports of £9,074,000 £9,750,000 Silk. 4,178,000 11,774,000 Tea . 12,360,000 4,058,000 Miscellaneous Total .
£25,582,000
£25,612,000
