98
CHINA.
British Consular Agents may reside. The import trade from Great Britain, exclusive of the Colony of Hongkong, centres at Shanghai, Hankow, and Tientsin, while the bulk of the exports to Great Britain pass through the ports of Shanghai, Foochow, Hankow, and Canton. The annual value of the foreign trade of China was as follows in each of the sixteen years from 1873 to 1888-
YEAR.
NET IMPORTS.
+
Haikwan Tls.
EXPORTS.
Haikwan Tls.
69,451,277
TOTAL.
Haikwan Tls.
1873..
66,637,209
136,088,485
1874.
64,360,864
66,712,868
131,073,732
1875.
67,803,247
68,912,929
136,716,176
1876.
70,269,574
80,850.512
151,120,086
1877.
73,253,170
67,445,022
140,698,192
1878.
70,804,027
67,172,179
137,976,206
1879.
82,227,424
72,281,262
154,508,686
1880.
79,293,452
77,883,587
157,177,039
1881
91,910,877
71,452,974
163,363,851
1882.
77 715,228
67,336,846
145,052,074
1883...
73,567,702
70,197,693
143,765,395
1884.
72,760,758
67,147,680
139,908,438
1885.
88,200,018
65,005,711
153,205,729
1886.
87,479,323
77,206,568
164,685,891
1887
102,263,669
85,880,208
188,123,877
1888.
124,782,803
92,401,067
217,183,960
Of the increase in the last two years from 18 to 20 millions of taely is accounted for by the Native Customs stations outside Hongkong and Macao having passed under the Foreign Customs; the trade passing these stations was not formerly included in the returns. Of the total value of the imports and exports to foreign countries for 1888 -Tls. 217,183,960-Tls. 166,517,135 must be credited to Great Britain and her colonies, including India. The remainder is thus divided among other countries:-United States, Tls. 12,108,275; Continent of Europe, Tls. 15,898,535; Russia, viá Odessa Tls. 2,218,841; Siberia and Russia, via Kiachta, Tls. 4,699,421; Russian Manchuria Tls. 883,303; Corea, Tls 316,878; Japan, Tls. 9,336,970; Macao, Tls. 5,114,184; Philippine Islands, Tls. 382,651 ; Cochin China, Tls. 441,353; Siam, Tls. 411,661; Java, Tls. 480,877; Turkey and Egypt Tls. 417,378. Among the exports, tea and silk take the first places. In 1888 the export of tea amounted to 2,167,552 piculs, and the value of raw silk exported was Tls. 20,269,131. Manufatcured Cotton and Woollen Goods and Opium constitute the bulk of the imports of foreign produce into China. The value of Cotton Goods imported in 1888 was Tls. 44,437,525; that of Woollen Goods, Tls. 5,097,605; and of Miscellaneous Piece Goods, Tls. 121,866. Most of these goods came from British looms. The value of the Opium imported in 1888 was Tls. 32,330,506,
Although China is traversed in all direction by roads, they are usually mere tracks, or at best footpaths, along which the transport of goods is a tedious and difficult undertaking. It was owing to the imperfect means of communication that such a fearful mortality attended the last famines in Shansi, Honan, and Shantung. A vast internal trade is, however, carried on over the roads, and by means of numerous canals and navigable rivers. The most populous part of China is singularly well adapted for the contruction of a network of railways, and
a first attempt to introduce them into the country was made in 1876, when a line from Shanghai to Woosung, ten miles in length, was constructed by an English Company. The little railway was subsequently purchased by the Chinese Govermnent and closed by them on the 21st October, 1877. The Kaiping Coal Company's line, at first intended only to carry coal to the Canal bank, has been extended to Tientsin, and in August, 1888, was opened to passenger traffic. It will eventually be continued to Tungchow, near Peking. In 1889 Imperial sanction was given to a project for a line from a place some ten miles from Peking to Hankow, and the work will be commenced this year. A telegraph line between Tientsin and Shanghai was opened in December, 1882, and lines now connect all the important cities of the empire.
* Net Imports, i.e., the value of the Foreign Goods imported direct from Foreign Countries, less the value of the
Foreign Goods re-exported to Foreign Countries during the year.