SANTUAO
Santuao was voluntarily opened to foreign trade by the Chinese Government- on the 8th May, 1899. The port includes the whole of the magnificent Santu Inlet, which is situated some 70 iniles north of Foochow. The foreign settlement is on the island of Santu in the centre of the inlet. The harbour is certainly one of the finest on the China coast; the approaches to it are well-defined, and vessels of the largest sizę may enter at any time, regardless of the state of tide. H. M.S. Waterwitch surveyed the whole of the inlet in 1899, and an Admiralty chart has been published. A telegraph cable was successfully laid from the mainland to the Settlement in July, 1905, and communication established with all China ports. A new cable connecting the telegraph office at Santuao with the mainland was laid in May, 1921, and the incon- venience caused by receiving and dispatching all messages from the other side of the harbour, which had been experienced for four years previously, was thus removed.
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The port of Santuao serves important tea districts. Much of the tea exported from Foochow to Europe is first shipped from Santuao; and there is a growing demand in North China for certain varieties grown in the neighbourhood. No build- ing operations worth mentioning have been undertaken at the port, and no modern methods have as yet been introduced in the manufacture of the principal local ducts-paper and pottery, though excellent raw material is close at hand, especially extensive deposits of kaolin capable of yielding far superior pottery than is now brought on the market from this district. The iron mines in the districts of Kutien, Fuan, and Siapu, where the deposits were reported in 1918 to be of a promising nature, have not yet been properly exploited, and so far no smelting works at Santuao, as then anticipated, have been erected, so that a regular trade in this valuable mineral docs not yet exist here. The chief towns of the district are Funing, Fu-an, Ningte, and Shouning. There is a prosperous and increasing junk-trade, and regular steamship communication with the provincial capital.
TRADE IN 1930.
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Climatic conditions at Santuao were favourable for the tea crop, but, owing to banditry in the interior, which prevented farmers going far afieid to pick the leaves, and the fighting in North China, which resulted in lessened demand, the season for green tea was a poor one. The pottery trade suffered severely from the same causes. Both the rice and sweet potato crops were well above the average, but the embargo on the export from the inlet of these articles was not lifted, although a certain quantity of rice was exported under special permission to Foochow to relieve the shortage there. There was decline in imports, due to the fall in the value of silver and also, in a lesser degree, to the revised Import Tariff, while the purchasing power of the in- habitants had dwindled appreciably. It was natural, therefore, that foreign piece goods should fall into disfavour and their place be taken by nankeens, imported mostly through the Native Customs. Sulphate of ammonia is, how- ever, again coming into favour with farmers as a fertiliser. Matches, chiefly of Polish and Swedish origin, are making a strong bid to secure a market and, as they are sold at prices very little dearer than the native-made article, are meeting with success. During the the season an extra steamer was placed on the Foochow run, and this amply met the demand for tonnage. In addition, once a month a steamer from Hongkong en route to the North made Santuno a port of call. The port was visited by a typhoon on the 28th July, but, with the exception of a few buildings being unroofed and several trees uprooted, no great damage was done.
The net value of the trade of the port for 1926 was Hk. Tls. 3,874,522, Ilk. Tls. 3,292,154 for 1927, Hk. Tls. 3,576,637 for 1928, Hk. Tls. 3,376,329 for 1929, and Hk. Tls. 2,965,525 for 1930.