276
86
In the north, bean mills are important, as it is considered that increased treatment of beans in Manchuria will help to stabilise this market. There are two large mills and five smaller ones working with mechanically-operated plants, and about 50 small native mills working with hand-operated machinery. Only the large Harbin mill has British machinery.
There are also oil press factories in the ports. Shanghai, for instance, has 50, mostly small.
Another considerable industry deals with the treatment of eggs. There are modern egg product plants with refrigeration plant and full mechanical equipment at Nanking, Shanghai, Hankow, and Tientsin. These usually prepare powder and flaked products as well. In the interior are numerous native factories preparing dried albumen and flaked products only. The output of this industry has been severely curtailed by civil unrest.
MISCELLANEOUS.
175. To complete the list of machinery-using industries, there must be mentioned the very important cigarette making industry largely in the hands of the British-American Tobacco Company, but with some competition from Chinese and Japanese interests. Also the chemical industry which is not yet of any importance, sugar refining, printing and publishing, tanneries, breweries and distilleries.
(f) Domestic Uses.
(i) BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.
176. The adoption of modern building methods in the Treaty Ports and leased territory, provides a considerable market for steel products of all kinds. The fine buildings to be seen in construc- tion in foreign settlements are causing the Chinese to follow the example, and, in view of the great interest taken in estate develop- ment, this fashion will continue to grow. The better the quality of the buildings the better will be the materials put into them. At present owing to the absence of good architects in many parts of China, specifications are very loose and as a result very cheap materials are often included. There is no doubt that a stiffening up of specifications would make the sale of British steel easier. But even then, competition with Belgium will be very hard.
For this reason everything possible should be done to encourage the education of young Chinese in the best methods of architecture, and generally to spread knowledge of methods of big building con- struction on modern lines.
Much has been done to improve matters in Shanghai, but in other parts of China there is a great deal of unsatisfactory work.
!
87
(ii) BUILDING EQUIPMENT.
177. It is surprising how great a market for miscellaneous metal manufactures is to be found in modern buildings. The basements of large buildings are often full of plant for air conditioning, for heating, for refrigeration, and even for lighting. Lifts are quite a large item in any big business town, and complete electrical fittings with conduits, switches, lamps and fans have also to be added. There is also a demand for sanitary fixtures and domestic hardware. Unfortunately our trade in electrical equipment suffers very severe competition, and we are being beaten to some extent, by the United States and to a considerable extent by Japan. The former is helped by strong Japanese alliances, and the latter by low prices of lamps and fans. These are stated, however, to be as much inferior to British articles as they are low in price.
Hardware, door furniture, stoves, clocks, and all the numerous items of fully equipped offices or dwellings, swell the list, as also do metal articles for personal use. It is to be regretted that our share of these numerous items is lamentably small. Our trade is too often dealt with in an apathetic way by general merchants. Unless we can organise a more energetic method of advertising and chasing business, we shall be hopelessly outclassed.
SUMMARY.
178. This survey of the metal and machinery market in China has been set down to show how wide is the field for industrial development, and how varied the openings for importers who are prepared to exploit them. The rate of development with an end of civil war and a rehabilitation of the currency may well be phe- nomenal. The first need will be improvement of roads and railways which will bring about a readier movement of the products of agriculture and so greatly increase the surplus earnings of the people. This will enable the increased use of agricultural machinery and irrigation plant, so multiplying the benefit. Follow- ing this will come the tendency to work up the agricultural and mineral wealth of the country, to which end a rapid increase of available electric power will contribute. In all this development machinery will take a large part and there can be little doubt of great trade openings for suitable plant. But such a system of development, starting with insufficient capital, presents the imme- diate difficulty of having to install the means of wealth production first and wait for the reward from the operation thereof. The demand for long credits is the result of this necessity. A further difficulty is that though China is anxious for native control of her own industries, it is not easy to get Chinese capital from those who have it, as they can often lend it at 3 per cent. per month to their less fortunate compatriots. The cure for this must lie with the Government. They themselves are showing every willingness
277