288
98
As a com- With
manufacture of rough, heavy type cloths for army use. peting factor against British imports, they do not count. reference to cloth imports it is not useful to attempt many specific comparisons between pre-war and present conditions because of the following facts:-
(1) Chinese Customs classifications have been varied since 1915.
(2) On the grounds of economy Hongkong has kept no records from 1925 to 1929, inclusive. These were recom- menced in April, 1930, and only the nine months to December 31st, 1930, are available.
(3) The Chinese Maritime Customs returns for 1930 will not be available until August or September, 1931.
(4) Certain classes of goods, for instance, camlets, lastings, long ells, Spanish stripes, etc., have now, owing to change of fashion or the habits of the people, become of small or no importance.
(5) Wide fluctuations in the price of silver have occurred, rendering conversion into or comparisons in sterling values difficult and perhaps misleading.
Certain statistics are available, however, which show clearly enough the trend of the wool textile trade.
HONGKONG.
201. Imports for the last nine months each of 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1930 are given below :—
Total imports of woollen and worsted cloth and yarn into Hongkong for last nine months of each year.
1922- £846,000 of which Great Britain secured
1923 £1,488,000
1924-£2,385,000
1930 £887,000
''
JJ
"
13
Per cent.
84.0
86.0
90.3
48.7
99
The seven most important classes of imports are set out in Table XVII of Appendix B. They account for approximately 88 per cent. of the total wool cloth imports into China in 1926, and 91 per cent. in 1929. For comparative purposes, the balance of the imports may be ignored. It will be seen that in one class only, Venetians, has Great Britain maintained her share. In this class she secured in 1926 £775,000, or 85.8 per cent. and in 1929, £501,000, or 94.5 per cent. It will be noted that the Venetian trade has declined considerably and that Britain's actual volume of trade is smaller in 1929 than in 1926. A fairly large proportion of Venetians is used for making the uppers of Chinese shoes, for which strength and quality are essential. It is likely that Great Britain will maintain her trade here. As to the remaining portion
of Venetian imports, used for clothing, we are informed that a movement is discernible to replace these by light-weight serges, imperials, etc., which are sufficiently good in quality for clothing purposes and are much cheaper in price. It is to be expected that the Venetian trade will either not improve or will actually grow less in the future.
203. Despite the unsettled conditions in China for the past few years, the market for woollen and worsted cloth as a whole has grown steadily, and with more settled conditions in the future, we believe that it will expand rapidly and become most important as an outlet for wool cloth and yarn exporting countries. Owing to the Chinese love of speculation in their buying, it is not wise to accept individual years for statistical purposes. Taking the average of 1912 and 1913 on one hand, and moving averages of three years in the most recent period on the other hand, we get the following:
#
***
Average imports of woollen and worsted cloth for 1912 and 1913 1,020,000 Average imports of woollen and worsted cloth for 1925, 1926 and
1927 Average imports of woollen and worsted cloth for 1926, 1927 and
1928 Average imports of woollen and worsted cloth for 1927, 1928 and
1929
3,820,000
4,596,000
(Note. The imports for the first three months of each year are unim- portant as the main importing season ends in December. These figures, therefore, may be accepted as truly indicative.)
CHINA (EXCLUDING HONGKONG).
202. The Chinese Maritime Customs Returns (excluding imports from Hongkong) show that :—
Per cent.
In 1913 Great Britain's share of total Woollen and Worsted
Imports was
68.2
In 1926 Great Britain's share of total Woollen and Worsted
Imports was
65.5
In 1929 Great Britain's share of total Woollen and Worsted
Imports was
47.7
F
4,033,000 After making all allowances for the increases in selling prices following the War, marked growth is shown.
204. Perusal of the foregoing and the information given in Appendix B force us inevitably to the conclusion that something is seriously wrong with much of Great Britain's offerings-cloth in particular in the China market. That " something "is price. We have interviewed from 90 to 100 leading merchants, importers and dealers British, Continental, and Chinese in all the most important trading centres including Harbin, Mukden, Dairen, Tientsin, Shanghai, Hongkong, and Canton. Without exception, we have been told, ad nauseam, that China is now entirely a price market that quality, while desirable, is beyond the reach of the
10375
D 2
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