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APPOINTMENT AND TERMS OF REFERENCE.
The British Economic Mission to the Far East was appointed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the President of the Board of Trade on August 18th, 1930, to enquire into the present condition of British trade with China and Japan and to report what action should be taken to develop and increase that trade.
The Mission was constituted as follows:-
Sir Ernest Thompson, J.P. (Chairman).
Sir Thomas Allen.
Mr. James Bell, J.P.
Mr. William A. Crowther.
Lieut.-Colonel Reginald Morcom, C.B.E.
Mr. Louis Beale, C.B.E.
Dr. S. H. C. Briggs (attached as a representative of the
Wool Textile Delegation).
Captain R. T. Nevill (attached as adviser on the tinplate
trade).
Mr. T. St. Quintin Hill, O.B.E., Secretary. Mr. F. A. Barnes, Assistant Secretary.
The Mission left London on 19th September, 1930, and arrived
at Tokyo on 30th October, 1930.
The Mission left Japan on November 27th, 1930, and arrived at Shanghai on November 30th, 1930.
The Mission arrived in England on April 4th, 1931.
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REPORT OF THE BRITISH ECONOMIC MISSIÓN TO THE FAR EAST.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
1. We think it desirable before attempting to place on record
a survey of Japan and China, both as markets for and competitors with Great Britain, to draw attention to the relative positions of Asia and the chief countries of that continent in the trade of the world.
2. The whole of Asia-of which India, China, and Japan are the chief countries-enjoys, as yet, not more than one-seventh of the world's total trade, although possessing almost half of the world's population. China, with nearly one-quarter of the popula- tion of the world, secures only 2 per cent., and Japan, including Korea and Formosa, with a population of nearly 90 million, secures only 2.8 per cent. of the trade of the world. In foreign trade (imports plus exports) per head of population, Japan is fiftieth on the list of countries with approximately £6 5s. per head in 1928. India, with a population smaller by 100 million than China, is eightieth on the list, with a foreign trade of £1 6s. per head. China, with a population of 400-500 million,* is eighty-second, and lowest on the list with a foreign trade of approximately 12s. per head. If China's foreign trade could be raised even to the level of that of India, the result would be an addition of at least £300 million to the annual foreign trade of the world, in which all countries trading with China would share.
3. Japan and China present two entirely different markets. Japan is an island empire of approximately 90 million people indus- trialised- or rapidly becoming soon modern lines. Like Great Britain, Japan must import many of the principal raw materials required for her industries, but, unlike Great Britain, her economic structure has been planned to ensure that most of her domestic needs in manufactured goods can be supplied from her own fac- tories, and in this policy Japan is increasingly successful. Indeed, in the cotton textile industry not only does Japan supply prac- tically the whole of her own needs, but she has become the most formidable competitor with Lancashire in the world's markets. In 1903 Japan's exports of cotton piece goods were less than £2 million in value. In 1929 her exports of cotton piece goods had risen to £41 million, and were consigned to some of Great Britain's best markets, such as China, India, the Dutch East Indies, and Egypt.
*The figure issued by the Nanking Government in 1931 was 474,000,000.
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