944
WUCHOW-NANNING
Pang Shui-ming, signs per pro.
Agency
Commercial Union Assurance Co., Ld.
CONSULATES
MEX Tai-peh-kwok Ling-sz-kun
BELGIUM
Consul-Residing in Hongkong,Offices:
Alexandra Building
GREAT BRITAIN
H. B.M.'s Consul-General at Canton
CUSTOMS, MARITIME
Commissioner-C. Thorne Assistant-S. A. Konovaloff
Medical Officer-R. E. Beddoe
Tide-Surveyor and Harbour-master-
M. Hellstrand ·
Examiners-J. W. Adnains, E. A. C. Friedrichsen, P. A. Davidson, R. H Williamson, J. Lonergan
Tidewaiters E. E. Clark, C. E. Huguenin, M. Arakawa, V. M. F. Colaço, J. Schofield
POST OFFICE, CHINESE
Postal Commissioner-T. N. Manners
(Nanning, Kwangsi District)
Acting Postmaster-Fok Sik Cheung
李美 Mei.foo
STANDARD OIL Co. oF N. Y.-Tel. Ad:Socony
H. E. Gumbart
NANNING
甯南 Nan-ning
The port of Nanning, declared open to foreign trade on the 1st January, 1907, is situated on the left bank of the Tso-Kiang, one of the branches of the West River, 368 miles above Wuchow and about 195 miles below Lungchow, the frontier port on the Tonkinese border. It lies in the centre of a wide fertile plain in a sharp bend of the river, which there describes nearly two-thirds of the arc of a circle. It is a hsien city and is the seat of the Military and Civil Governors of Kwangsi Province. Below the walled city and adjacent to the lower suburbs is the site which has been set apart for a Settlement; it occupies the only spot near the city which is above high- water mark. The regulations do not allow the purchase of land on the Settlement site, but merely its lease for 30 years, which period may be extended on expiry for another 30 years. Foreigners desiring to lease land must apply through their Consul.
·
The net value of the trade of the port has advanced from Hk. Tls.1,544,000 in 1907 to Hk. Tls. 7,992,529 in 1919. The last few years have been characterised by uncer- tainty and irregularity in trade, and the district at the close of 1919 was still suffering from the backward swing of the pendulum of prosperity which had attained its most marked advance in 1915. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining imported piece-goods, there has been an increased demand for native cloth, and a number of new factories have been erected. The home and inland demand for this cloth has always been steady. As regards 'exports, depression in many branches has been acute for some considerable time. The portion of the district's products which remained unsold at the end of 1919 was larger than usual, but in view of the difficulties attending the marketing of produce at Hongkong it would not be an easy matter to make an accurate estimate of what this unsold portion would be likely to realise. Shipping companies can find no encouragement in the present state of the business, and the expenses in all directions were so heavy during 1919 that the ratio of profit resulting from ordinary trade was lower than ever before. The Asiatic Petroleum Co. have a large motor supply boat running between Wuchow and Nanning during the high-water season, and the opening of Konghou and Kweishien as ports of call" has been suggested. The possibility of the development of the aniseed oil business has not been lost sight of by the provincial authorities, who have planted nearly 2,000,000 trees at Kaofengyeh, 80 li north of Nanning. Some 250,000 wood-oil trees have also been planted and there would seem to be a fair possibility of the plantation proving successful. The attention of various local commercial asso- ciations has also been drawn to the cultivation of cotton, and the formation of expeir-