A12
CHINA
kilometres of new railways, it being planned that 1,695 kilometres of new rail- ways should be opened to traffic each year. The plan called for the completion in the North-western provinces of the Lung-Hai Railway, which runs from Haichow, a seaport in Northern Kiangsu, west to Sian, provincial capital of Shensi. This line was extended to Paoki, 130 kilometres west of Sian, in 1936, and extension was planned to Lanchow, the capital of Kansu province, 450 kilometres north-west of Sian. Another line from Paoki to Chengtu, the capital of Szechwan province, about 550 kilometres south-west of Paoki, will link the provincial capitals of Sian and Chengtu.
In the South-west the plan called for the construction of the 523 kilometres Chengtu-Chungking Railway connecting the two leading Szechwan cities; the Hunan-Kweichow Railway connecting Chuchow, important city on the Canton- Hankow line, with Kweiyang, the capital of Kweichow province; the 350 kilo- metres Szechwan-Kweichow Railway connecting Chungking and Kweiyang; the 550 kilometres Yunnan-Kweichow Railway connecting Kweichow and Kunming, the capital of Yunnan; the 770 kilometres Szechwan-Yunnan Railway connecting Kunming and Suifu, on the Yangtze River in Central Szechwan; and the 345 kilometres Hunan-Kwangsi Railway.
In the South-east the plan called for the construction of the 263 kilometres Nanchang-Pingsiang Railway connecting the capital town of Kiangsi with the mining town of Pingsiang and the Canton-Hankow line; the 450 kilometres Nanking-Kiangsi Railway connecting at Kweiki with the Chekiang-Kiangsi line; and the Canton-Meihsien Railway of 500 kilometres connecting the Southern port of Canton with East Kwangtung's leading town. These lines were either under survey or under construction before the summer of 1937, and large orders for rails, coaches, and locomotives had been placed abroad. On the outbreak of hostilities part of these plans had to be abandoned, while some of the completed lines were torn up, as, for instance, the Nanchang-Kiukiang line from Kiukiang to Yunsui and a section of the Chekiang-Kiangsi line. Particular emphasis was iaid on the construction of new railways in the South-western provinces. The Hengyang-Kweilin section of the Hunan-Kwangsi line has been completed and is now being extended to the borders of French Indo-China. On the Hunnan- Kweichow line the section Chuchow-Hsianghsing of about 60 kilometres has already been completed, and work is proceeding on the westward extension to Kweiyang. The Szechwan-Yunnan line is in the road-levelling stage. The road- bed for the Chungking-Chengtu line is being prepared, while the final survey has begun of the Yunnan-Kweichow line. An entirely new line, now under con- struction, is the Yunnan-Burma Railway connecting Kunming and British Burma. This line, about 700 odd kilometres in length, will serve as an import- ant link between. China and the Indian ocean coast when completed.
The following are the import statistics for rolling-stock, and for such rail- way materials as are specifically quoted as such in the Returns, during the past three years :
1938.
1936.
Quantity.
1937. Value. Quantity. Valuc. St. $
St. $
Quantity. Value.
St. $
Crossings & Turntables
for Railways...Quintals
14,859
Rails
Quintals 965,747
577,995 14,871,008
Locomotives & Tenders
14,028,834
18,974 693,960 913,311 13,608,276 6,263,686
1,781 97,945
102,843 2,147,835
346,584
Railway Carriages &
Wagons
11,511,923
2,744,425
1,697,941
Railway Materials, n.o.r
4,043,039
4,643,362
2,464,138
Railway Sleepers Pieces 1,757,063
4,593,053 1,300,895 4,547,974
524,445
996,502
Total
49,625,852
32,501,674
7,755,843