British.... Japanese German
French.....
Norwegian
American
Other Countries
Chinese
CHINA
661
Entries and Clearances
Tonnage
Values
Percentages Tonnage Trade.
27,495
33,316,618 Tls. 712,398,769
41*59
46*29
29,296
15,598,213
>>
190,088,955
19'47
12.35
5,864
0,639,767
"
135,265,296
8*29
8.79
5,072
4,712,188
""
60,709,536
5'88
3'94
1,110
1,067,110
""
21,254,276
1.33
1.38
549
1,353
147,193
1,045,899 1,043,324 16,686,305
"}
9,218,021
1:30
60
22,135,842
1:31
1'44
""
387,924,248
20'83
25.21
217,932
74,109,424
"
1,538,994,943
100.00
100.00
The vessels entered and cleared in 1907 were made up of 91,380 Steamers of 74,130,376 tons, and 126,552 Sailing Vessels of 5,979,048 tons; the latter including 5,087,608 Chinese Junk tonnage.
The gross coast trade in vessels of foreign build amounted to Tls. 407,776,393 outward, and Tls. 425,095,898 inward, the net native imports (that is goods not re-ex- ported) at the Treaty Ports being Tls. 137,552,030, and the exports to Treaty Ports Tls. 126,669,687.
The Imperial Maritime Customs revenue for the same year amounted to Haikwan Taels 33,861,346, and was derived from
Import Export Coast T'de Opium Duty. Duty. Duty. Duty. Foreign ... Tls.12,050,111 7,080,591 1,085,450 1,430,976 Native......,, 1,190,061 2,223,862
Total
683,533
358,293
Opium T'nage Transit Lekin. Dues. Dues. 3,815,936 1,257,341 1,631,383 554,941 63,851 435,017
„, 13,240,172 9,304,453 1,768,983 1,789,269 4,370,877 1,321,192 2,066,400 Mr. J. L. Chalmers, Acting Statistical Secretary to the Imperial Maritime Customs in his report on the Foreign Trade of China for 1908, says:
(4
General.-In the import trade caution has been the leading characteristic. Speculation on a future market, the chief error of recent years, has been largely avoided. Operations have been generally of the hand-to-mouth kind, and importers and dealers have been waiting for some movement among the great population upon which every- thing depends, some strong and sudden demand which should clear off accumulated stocks and open the way for fresh ventures. And this abstinence, called for by the overburdened state of the China market, was aided by the Manchester prices for cotton goods, which remained uninvitingly high during the greater part of the year. The strain on the mercantile community has been continuous and severe, but at least one good result emerges with promise for the future. Stocks were reduced in Shanghai by the end of the year to a figure not greatly exceeding the normal, except in the case of fancy cotton goods, while in Hongkong they were low, and in most other centres almost depleted. Yet the demand was really more active than it seemed to the unfortunate holders of large stocks, the legacy from previous years. Taking the quantities of foreign products retained in the various districts, that is, the net foreign imports-our only gauge of actual consumption,--and making due allowance for large importations of railway plant, of flour, and of rice, it will be seen that a very healthy and general demand existed, by which old stocks as well as much of the year's fresh importations were absorbed." Progress has been made in the settlement and development of Manchuria. Antung, opened in March, with Tatungkow as a subsidiary port, forms an outlet for a region rich in wild silk, beans, and timber. An office of the Maritime Customs was opened at Dairen in July, and the advantage which that port, as a port of free entry, had possessed over Newchwang was thus ended; while it is worthy of remark that the excessive quantities of cotton goods imported at Dairen in anticipation of the opening, and unable to find a market, entailed loss exceeding the duty saved. The opening of Harbin completes the circle of Customs stations and will prevent untaxed competition by way of Vladivostock and the Russian frontier. Another grievance has been removed by the equalisation of railway rates from Dairen and Newchwang to Kwanchengtze. The ice-free position of Dairen, at the end of the South Manchurian Railway and within easy distance of Japanese and Chinese ports, is sufficient to secure for it a large share of Manchurian business without preferential arrangements; and Newchwang, on the other hand, in addition to its long-established connexions, has the advantage of being nearer the heart of Manchuria. Regulations were put into effect at the end of the year by which foreign and native goods arriving .at Tientsin, Newchwang, Antung, or Dairen, and having paid duty, may be sent on