A 8
CHINA.
in the same proportion, as Hongkong buyers can seldom know at the time of ordering. exactly how their purchases of Chinese produce will be split up and distributed eventually.
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The British Empire was China's greatest supplier and purchaser during the year under review; but, taking the various countries individually as they are listed, it will be seen that the United States of America took first place in the trade with China with a combined value for imports and exports of 328 million Haikwan taels, Japan taking second place with 253 million taels, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain taking third place with a total of 156 million taels. The United States also led in imports, followed by Japan, and then by the United Kingdom. In the matter of exports Japan easily led the way, with the United States in second place and disregarding the debatable Hongkong figures,. with the United Kingdom in third place. In the case of the import and export sections of trade, therefore, the order of precedence was the same for these countries as in 1931, but in total foreign trade,. the United States took the lead from Japan in the year under review.
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In making any further study of the statistics in the foregoing table, it should be remembered that imports declined in general by approximately 27 per cent. as. compared with 1931, that exports, declined in general by. 46 per cent., and that the total foreign trade for the year under review declined by 34 per cent.
The decline in the value of Australian imports was largely due to a de- crease in the arrivals of wheat from 14.9 million piculs in 1931 to 9.2 million piculs in 1932, the difference in value being almost 23 million Haikwan Taels. In this connection it will be seen that the figures for New Zealand are no longer being included in those for Australia. British India has in- creased her percentage of the import trade during 1932, but has actually supplied merchandise of a lesser value: the outstanding items of this trade were a decrease in raw cotton from 1.8 million piculs in 1931 to 0.5 million piculs, and an increase in the quantity of rice from 7.4 million to no less than 7.2 million piculs. France took only 8 million Haikwan Taels' worth of silk as against double that value in 1931. French Indo-China supplied 7.6 million piculs of rice, valued at 40.1 million Haikwan taels, as against 0.9 million piculs, of a value of 4.7 million taels in 1931, which ac counts for the noticeable increase in the value of imports recorded for Hong Kong. The decline in Japanese trade was due, of course,
to. the boycott the increase in the share of the import trade enjoyed by that country is important, from 24.61 per cent. in 1930 to 20.26 per cent. in 1931, and to 14.14 per cent. (including Formosa) in the year under review. In 1931 Manchurian goods to a value of 6.8 million taels were imported through Korea, and the equivalent decline in the value of imports from the latter country in 1932 is explained by the loss of this traffic owing to conditions in Manchuria. The very much enhanced figures for imports from Siam are due to an increase from 0.7 million piculs, valued at 3.9 million taels, to 6.4 million piculs, at 35.2 million taels, in the arrivals of rice from that country.
IMPORTS.
I
Although trade was so bad (in terms of gold) in 1931 that worse could hardly be expected in 1932, no one who has been througli the experiences of the year will be surprised to find that the value of the import section of trade has declined, neverthe- less, by a further 27 per cent. (or 24 per cent. if the incomplete Manchurian statistics are excluded from the calculation). The general decline in trade must necessarily be borne in mind when considering the figures for any special import item, as decreases. may not be due to a lessened demand for any particular commodity hut only to the proportionate falling off in purchases common to more or less all commodities, brought about by the general reduction in the spending power of a country faced with such various difficulties and impoverished by several years of sadly diminished proceeds from her export trade.
Considering the state of the export trade, the decline in imports can occasion small wonder, and, while the country undoubtedly desires to obtain more machinery and other things, it is a good thing for the visible balance of trade that the cost of imports did not increase during this particular year. As it was, this branch of China's trade felt the depression in a less degree than was the case in many other countries during 1932, the percentage of the import decrease being 36.7 for the United States, 35.8 for Austria, 31.3 for the Netherlands, 30.6 for Germany, 29.3 for France and 29.2 for Italy, to give only a few instances for comparison with China's 27 per cent. decline.