382
CHINA.
of the Chefoo Convention, permission is also accorded to British merchants to trade at Chungking-fu and Yunnan-fu, at which places British Consular Residents will reside. The import trade from Great Britain centres, exclusive of Hongkong, at Shanghai, Hankow, and Tientsin, while the bulk of the exports to Great Britain pass through the ports of Shanghai, Foochow, Hankow, and Canton.
The annual value of the foreign trade of China was as follows in each of the thirteen years from 1865 to 1877:-
EXPORTS.
TOTAL.
YEAR.
1865...
1866..
1867...
1868...
1869...
1870....
1871
1872..
1873.
1874..
1875..
1876.
1877..
NET IMPORTS.*
Haikwan Tls
55,715,45$ 67 174,481
Haikwa 'ls.
Haikwan Tls.
54,103,274
109,818,732
50,596,223
117,770,704
62,459,226
52,158,300
114,617,526
63,281,804
61,826,275
125,108,079
67,108,533
60,139,237
127,247,770
63,693,268
55,294,866
118,988,134
70,103,077
66,853,161
136,956,238
67.317,049
75,288,125
142,605,174
66,637,209
69,451,277
136,088,485
64,360,864
66,712,868
131,073,732
67,803,247
68,912,929
136,716,176
70,269,574
80,850.512
151,120,086
73,253,170
67,445,022
140,698,192
Of the total value of the imports and exports to foreign countries for 1877-; Tls. 140,698,192-Tls. 115,606,693 must be credited to Great Britain and her colonies, including India. The remainder is thus divided among other countries :- United States, Tls. 9,089,339; South America, Tls. 72,097; Continent of Europe, Tls. 5,897,472, Russia, via Odessa, Tls. 1,138,081: Siberia and Russia via Kiachta, Tls. 3,814,777 Russian Manchuria, Tls. 186,408; Japan, Tls. 5,397,206; Philippine Islands Tls. 243,633; Cochin China, Tls. 906,084; Siam, Tls. 598,104; Java, Tls. 579,521; and Suez, Tls. 547.
Among the exports tea and silk take the first places. In 1877 the export of tea amounted to 1,909,088 piculs, of which 1,389,614 piculs went to Great Britain and British possessions.
Manufactured Cotton and Woollen Goods and Opium constitute the bulk of the imports of foreign produce into China. The value of Cotton Goods imported in 1877 was Tls. 18,955,795; that of Woollen Goods, Tls. 4,830,583; and of Miscellaneous Piere Goods, Tls. 128,630. Most of these goods come from British looms. The value of the Opium imported in 1877 was Tls. 30,273,577.
China is traversed in all directions by 20,000 so-called roads, but they are usually mere tracks or at best footpaths. A vast internal trade is, however, carried on over them, and by means of numerous canals and navigable rivers. The most populous part of China is singularly well adapted for the construction of a network of railways, and a first attempt to introduce them into the country was made in 1876, when a line from Shanghai to Woosung, ten miles in length, was constructed by an English Company. The little railway was subsequently purchased by the Chinese Goveru- ment and closed by them on the 21st October, 1877, when the rails were taken up and the line with rolling stock shipped to Formosa.
* Net Imports, i.e., the value of the Foreign Goods imported direct from Foreign Countries, less the valus of the Foreign Goods re-exported to Foreign Countries during the year.