CO129-470 - Public Offices - 1921 — Page 136

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government. ↑

CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[F 2852/2852/10]

No. 1.

[November 18.]

SECTION 1

Memorandum on British Interests in China and our Competitors.—(Received November 18.)

PART I-British Interests in China.

THE following notes comprise an attempt to define and illustrate the scope, and to some extent the detail, of British interests in China, the likelihood of their further development, and the dangers which threaten them in the competition of other nations.

I-Territorial Possessions.

The island of Hong Kong, Crown colony (area 32 square miles, ceded in 1841), and the territory of Kowloon, on the opposite shore of the mainland (area 3 square miles, ceded in 1861).

Population in 1918—

Non-Chinese (civilian population, of whom one-half

is British and one-third Portuguese

13,500

Chinese civilian population-

City of Victoria

Hong Kong villages

Kowloon

New territories

299,450

15,300

80,200

93,400

Population afloat

Total

59,650

548,000

}

"

21

་་

According to Whitaker's Almanack (1920) Hong Kong is, for the total tonnage entered and cleared, by a very wide margin the greatest seaport in the world -Hamburg, and Antwerp (these on a pre-war basis), and New York being all some distance behind. This surprising fact alone is sufficient to indicate the incalculable Government value of this colony to the British Empire. As the United States

says: Commercial Handbook

The position of the British colony of Hong It is a free port, Kong in the world's trade is unique and without parallel. except for a duty on wine and spirits; it has relatively few important industries: it is one of the greatest shipping centres in the world; it is the distributing point for all the enormous trade of south China, and about 30 per cent. of the entire The conditions of Hong Kong in its relations to foreign commerce of China. commerce are in every way excellent, and the Government centres all its efforts on fostering trade. The harbour is magnificent and entirely equal to the present demands of foreign and domestic trade, while the future is being anticipated by increased dock facilities, the dredging of the fairways, and other improvements. The merchants, both native and foreign, give special attention to the assembling and transhipping of merchandise to and from all the ports of the world, and with the world-wide steamship connections at Hong Kong, the necessity of re- transhipment at other ports is reduced to a minimum. Hong Kong is the financial centre of the East,"

The total trade of Hong Kong for 1919 amounted to about £171,793,000: of this total £7,822,000 only was trade with the United Kingdom. The total shipping entering and clearing the port during 1918 reached 649,168 vessels of 3,561,500 As to the nationality of the ships, nearly 4,000 British ocean- aggregate tons. going vessels came and went, compared with a total of 5,274 foreign ships of the

[4797 8-1]

B

134

!