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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[19310]
No. 1.
470
[May 19.]
SECTION 1,
Question asked in the House of Commons, May 19, 1909.
Mr. Lonsdale, To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the arrange- ment reported to have been concluded with regard to the construction of the Canton-Hankow Railway will insure that British firma will have first option of executing orders for materials purchased out of China, in accordance with the Agreement signed on the 9th September, 1905, with the Chinese Government.
Answer by Mr. McKinnon Wood (for Sir E. Grey).
I understand that the arrangement just concluded contemplates the distribution in equal proportion, so far as is possible, of orders for material among the firms of the three countries who are parties to the arrangement. This applies to the Canton- Hankow line, as well as to the Hupeh section of the Szechuan line, and to any other lines which may be constructed in the future. I must point out that the Agreement of 1905, to which the honourable Member refers, did not exclude competition from foreign firms as to the terms to be offered to the Chinese Government, though the question as to the limits beyond which such competition would not be in accord with the spirit of the Agreement is one which His Majesty's Government found it necessary to raise in the course of the negotiations.
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