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Exports.
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packed for transit has to pay, but tea and cotton account for most of the receipts. In one respect the likin collection in Yunnan and Kueichou is better than in some other provinces, since one likin payment frees goods throughout each province. But there are other oppressive exactions. Fu-shui duties levied by each prefecture through which goods pass, are a great incubus; while lo-ti-shui, or destination dues, levied in the places where goods are to be consumed, constitute a further hindrance to trade.
In spite of the numerous obstacles to commerce, there is sufficient trade to justify a brief consideration of the articles of import and export. The value of the total trade of Yunnan, export and import, has been" estimated by a French writer, M. Rouvier, at 6,000,000. The value of the import trade depends closely upon that of the export trade, and, the former is to be encouraged, there must be more surplus produce raised, and a multi- plication of industries. As already indicated, Yunnan has at present a surplus of only two important articles, opium and tin, though copper and musk (two-thirds of which comes from Tibet) are also worth mentioning. A great number of miscellaneous articles doubtless amount to a large sum altogether, e.g., zinc, lead, horms, hides, paper, fur coats, straw hats, tea, fibrous products, gold, silk, wool, dyewoods, indigo, orpiment, oil of earthnuts, star aniseed, aniseed oil, medicines, mules, ponies, goats, sheep, pigs, &c., but none of these things is exported in sufficient quantity to be regarded as a staple export. The export of opium is said to amount to 12,500 piculs, or 750 tons, but it is not known wliether this estimate includes the large quantity of opium smuggled. Opium, having great value in small bulk, is especially suited to be an article of commerce in a mountainous country, with precipitous tracks as the only channels of trade. Not only can it be carried to market from remote valleys, whence bulkier goods could not pay their way, but it can also be easily cultivated and manufactured, is good in quality and improves with keeping, is always in demand and therefore readily exchanged, and can be easily smuggled. Consequently agriculture and commerce have concentrated round the drug. Besides likin duties, a tax must be paid to the hongs of districts licensed to deal in opium, and commissions to hongs on sale. Transport charges not being prohibitive, opium is exported to many Chinese provinces, proceeding especially from Yunnan-Fu, Chinningchow, Lotzuksien, Kunyangehow, Tali," and Linan. Shipments of Yunnan opium vid Chungking have risen steadily since 1891, The exports to Shanghai and Hankow are increasing, and a large amount of opium is sent clandestinely overland to Shashi and Amoy. The opium exported from Southern Yunnan comes largely from the west, with Tali and Yungchang as the centres. Tunghai is the entrepôt for the export trade vid Pose, but Yunnan-Fu is the emporium for the whole province. In 1895 the demand for opium was so great that it was difficult to find transport. The opium trade is entirely in the hands of a few big houses, who buy from the producer, and in return supply European and other goods. There appear to be still millions of acres available for poppy cultivation, and from the sale of the surplus opium must probably come any increased demand for foreign imports in the immediate future.
The chief imports into Yunnan are raw cotton, cotton yarn, cotton piece goods, and a crowd of miscellaneous articles, English and German, from Rangoon and Canton. These include woollen goods (blankets and long ells), clocks and watches, eau de Cologne, small knives, needles, matches, small mirrors, petroleum, umbrellas, toys, ironmongery, &c. Many of the lighter articles can be laid down cheaply, and have an assured market. Such are needles, knives, watches, and small mirrors especially, together with cheap hardware, glassware, perfumery, images, &c. But costly transport renders the price of many European articles prohibitive. Tea is imported from the Shan States, and silk from Ssuchuan. Raw cotton is said to cover all the roads converging on the province in the season. Practically no cotton is grown in Yunnan, though it requires a large quantity. Northern Yuunan gets it from the Lower Yangtzo ció Sui-Fu, western and central Yunnan from Burma, and south-western Yunnan from the Shan States. Foreign cotton yarn comes mostly from Hongkong vid Tonkin and Mengtsz uuder Inferior transit pass, and from Burma cid Tali. Bombay yarn is supreme. Lancashire cotton goods are imported, mostly grey shirtings, and sold at
prices not exorbitant.
Shashi cotton cloth is imported in large quantities into N. Yunnan, but the imports are declining owing to the growth of weaving in S. Yunnan. Picco goods of light texture and inferior quality, as compared with those in vogue on the Yangtze, must be supplied to Yunnan, as otherwise the long transit will render the retail price prohibitive. In cotton piece goods T-cloth of 36 inches is said to be more in demand than narrower widths. It is probable that the import of foreign cotton goods could be increased if they were better adapted to requirements, but at present the people prefer to weave their own cloth, knowing the shapes and sizes they require. It is alleged that foreign cottons are too fine and too dear, as well as much more troublesome to wash, because they hold the dirt more. Hence the good quality of English goods is an obstacle to their diffusion, and for a long time to come inferior goods, adapted to the buying power of the natives, must be sent. The latest Customs Report (1897) shows that Japanese cotton goods are now being imported into Yunnan. There is no Europeau merchant established in Yunnan, and the trade in foreign goods is said to be chiefly in the hands of the people of Liuan, whose agents buy goods in Hongkong and despatch them by the Red River route. Salt is an article of which large quantities are imported, although it is contraband owing to the Government salt monopoly.
Mr. Turner, of the Arracan Company, believes that Yunnan will become a Future trade. valuable market for our goods. He says that hitherto Ssuchuan has supplied calico, while Burma has mostly supplied raw cotton for the natives to manu- facture; but that imports of Bombay yarn, better in quality than the native, have been increasing lately. In 1897 the demand for raw cotton declined The yarns, for which there is increased demand, are 148, 16s, and 18s, which are the kinds mostly used. He states, however, that people want greater variety and better quality without increase in price. White calico is much in demand, and also blue drills and silks. Raw cotton will decline, but it will always be wanted to some extent as wadding for blankets, saddles, &c. A fair yarn to make a cheap cloth and good calico for those who can afford a higher price will find a large market, as the Yunnanese delight to spend Red flannels and white woollens are in demand for money on clothes. blankets, saddle-cloths, &c., the flannel in most shops now being German. Opium merchants bring back silk from Ssuchuan and Kueichou, and a number of merchants deal in silk exclusively. Only the inferior qualities are sent to Burma. English satin and velvet are readily sold. There is a large market for tea in Yunnan, where it is freely consumed, but the price of Indian tea is too high. Mr. Turner suggests that bamboo paper could be cheaply produced in Burma for Yunnan in enormous quantities, and sent from Myitkyina vid Momien, a route used by the Chinese in trade with the Kachins. Many articles produced in that district, whither Chinese merchants talk of moving from Bhamo now the railway is finished, could be readily sold in Yunnan. But before Yunnan becomes commercially important for Europe it must have a larger population, develop its natural resources, reform its taxation system, improve its communications, and undergo a period of industrial training,
The trade of Kueichou, a great part of which passes through Ssuchuan, Kueichou. needs little remark. The chief export is opium. Wild silk, from which strong fibre and silk cloth are made, might be increasingly exported. The same is true of tung oil, vegetable varnish, white wax, paper mulberry bark, rubber, and other vegetable products.
centres.
The chief trade centres of Yunnan are Yunnan-Fu, the capital of the Trade province, and Tali-Fu, which may be called the capital of the west. Secondary trade centres are Momien, Ssumao, and Mengisz.
Yunnan-Fu (6,420 feet) has a population of about 100,000, including Yunnan-Fu. the extensive suburbs. Parts of the city, now in ruins or used for cultivation, bear witness that it was much larger and more populous before the rebellion and the plague. It still retains importance as a market, being the crossing centre of several important caravan routes. It could hardly be better placed to serve as a commercial entrepôt, and the Lyons mission considered that it offered exceptional advantages to French industry and commerce. Bourne thinks that with fair roads and water communication, Yunnan-Fu might be a great emporium, but that the altitudes render exchange very
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