386
CHINA
prove equally popular. A restricted service for the transportation of pas- sengers, but not of mail, has also been inaugurated between Canton and Wu- chow on the West River. Of other prospective routes the agreement between the Ministry of Communications and the Lufthansa Company of Germany for an air-mail service between Nanking and Berlin is possibly the most important, and there are reasonable hopes that this service will be in operation in the near future. Several other routes are in contemplation and in many cases are only held up on account of regional political difficulties and the fact that contracts have already been entered into by the Central Government with other foreign interests. Of the new machines imported during the year, far the greater number were from America who supplied not less than 54 fully equipped military planes, as well as some five or six 6-seater and 8-seater passenger machines. Great Britain disposed of a dozen or more light planes, while orders for several further machines are reported to have been given. In addition, seven motors for installation in aircraft built in China were purchased from America. The end of the year probably saw more activity in aviation circles than at any other time, and numerous models, both military and commercial, were demonstrated. At present the demand would appear to be for light machines, mainly on account of cost, but there can be little doubt that aviation in China is but in its infancy and that with peace and renewed prosperity there will be a growing market for aircraft of all types and for the necessary accessories.
Railway materials:
Rails
...
...
Locomotives and tenders...
...
Railway carriages and wagons (includ-
ing tramcars).
...
...
...
Motor vehicles and accessories, tires, etc.:
Motor-cars:
Motor trucks, and chassis of Passenger cars, and chassis of
Motor cycles
...
...
...
Piculs ...Value, Hk. Tls.
1929
1930 821,533 823,583 3,500,623 3,911,553
...
""
19
2,934,749 2,075,400
Pieces
4,142
1,933
...
,,
4,639
2,347
...
707
458
""
Motor-cars and motor-trucks, parts and
accessories
•
India-rubber tires and inner tubes
Aeroplanes and parts
...Value, Hk. Tls. 1,878,483 2,349,371
...
19
""
...
...
...
""
"
In conclusion Mr. H. D. Hilliard writes:
3,423,279 3,032,643 1,772,825 3,336,804
In the preamble to this report there was the latent suggestion that China, in comparison with other countries, had as yet not felt, to any great extent, the paralysis which has shaken the very foundations of commercial circles throughout the world. In the ensuing pages there has been little to refute this argument. The Government has emerged successfully from a series of attempts to disrupt its political entity and has withstood the attacks of feudal war-lords. Even if she has not enhanced, China has at least retained, her position in international financial circles, her bonds have found a ready sale on foreign exchange, and her domestic loans have appreciated in value. She has developed her industrial status and has established herself as a potential competitor in the eyes of foreign manufacturers. Unlike other countries, China as yet has suffered but little from competition with Soviet Russia the full effect of whose five-year plan of commercial development has yet to be seen, nor has she been faced with the world-wide problem of read- justing wages to conform with the price of raw materials. Her exports, how- ever, have decreased, and profits accruing to merchants and traders have generally been negligible, while in many cases heavy losses have been sustained. We have seen that the middleman is unduly exploiting the tiller of the soil and that adulteration and inefficient methods of cultivation are endangering China's export trade, to the detriment of her position as a potential pur- chaser in the world's markets. But these are not the only factors which call
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