Copy.
Enclosure No. 8
51
MEMORANDUM BY THE HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
BONDED WAREHOUSES
The provision of bonded warehouses in Hong Kong is a
matter of the greatest importance to the Colony. A few years ago lengthy negotiations took place between the Hong Kong Government and the Maritime Customs, which resulted in a draft agreement being drawn up.
It is very probable that it would have been adopted if Sun Yat Sen's regime had not come into power in Canton and set up an independent Government. It was considered that in order to make the working of the agreement a success there must be harmony between Canton and the Central Government, so it was dropped for the time being.
Whether the question should be brought up at the Tariff Conference or argued out subsequently with the Customs and Central Government is a matter on which our delegate to the Conference can probably advise. It would seem, however, to concern only Britain and China and therefore it might be more correct for the Hong Kong Government to approach the Chinese Authorities at the first favourable opportunity independent of the Conference.
It must be recognized, however, that it is of utmost importance to Hong Kong to have bonded warehouses, especially if the tariff is raised, and everything should be done to promote their establishment. Perhaps the point is one which could be used for bargaining purposes at the Conference.
Amongst the advantages of konded warehouses in Hong
Kong are the following:
(1) Absolutely essential for the railway inasmuch as
goods could be shipped from the interior by train
to Kowloon and thence to a Coast port without