Directory_and_Chronicle_1936

CHUNGKING

A413

which was reduced owing to lack of confidence in the market, wood oil, the yield of which was reduced owing to the harmful effect of the long drought; sugar, owing partly to reduced yield and partly to competition from the South China product; and salt, owing to the loss (in favour of supplies from other sources) of its usual market in Hupeh province. Exchange rates in Shanghai, of which mention has been made, opened at Szechwan $1,156 for Shanghai $1,000 rose to Szechwan $1,370 early in Sept- ember, reached a highest point of $1,640 on 1st. November, and closed at $1,420. There was an increase in the number and tonnage of vessels entering and clearing at Chungking, due to an increase in the traffic with Wanhsien for military purposes. Otherwise. the shipping trade had a poor year, freight rates were reduced to an unprofitable level owing to competition for the lesser quantities of cargo available.

In the case of general cargo, for instance, the rates from Shanghai to Chungking fell from $100 per ton to $40, $3, and $20 in rapid succession. Owing to these drastic reductions, two shipping companies withdrew their vessels altogether from the Upper Yangtze run. A new and very successful venture in the shipping field was seen in the extension of the Chungking-Kiating service to Chengtu under Inland Waters Steam Navigation Regulations. Some very important undertakings in connexion with the development of the province are now under consideration. One of these concerns the construction of a large cement works on the Kialing River; another concerns a project for a railway line between Chungking and Chengtu; and a third proposal includes in its purview the linking-up of this isolated province of Szechwan and Hupeh in the east, Shensi in the north, and Kweichow in the south by three lines of motor highway centring on the Chungking.

Share This Page