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75
74
The very high quality of British plant is generally recognised and its high finish brings general admiration. A specification including less finish but more horsepower may, however, commend itself to the Chinese buyer. The following comparison illustrates this point-
British Tender.-275 gallons per minute 40 H.P. 4 cylinder engine, pneumatic tyres, with twin tyres on rear wheels- £1,330.
This tender is a specially cut one, the agents having sacri- ficed part commission and the manufacturers having in- creased the horsepower from 35 H.P.
German Tender. 400 gallons per
minute 55 H.P.
6 cylinder engine and otherwise a specification comparable with the British tender.-£1,330.
There is no doubt that the German offer is attractive and an effort should be made to beat it in its own class.
ARMS.
142. In recent years including 1930 the supply of arms and munitions has formed quite a large item of China's imports. Most of these orders have been placed by Chinese diplomatic representa- tives in Europe and America, but certain firms, mostly German, have obtained important orders from the Chinese Government direct. Even in the present lull of warlike operations, numerous enquiries for war material are actually in the market.
(c) Agricultural Development.
143. Of the total area of China which is given as 2,500 million acres, only 700 million are cultivatable and only 108 million are cultivated. This small cultivation is due to various causes such as poor transportation, uneconomically small holdings, and a lack of agricultural machinery. Nevertheless, the machinery market is a growing one, not only in agricultural machinery itself but also in such items as small oil engines and small oil driven irrigation pumps. In both these lines, however, Germany and the United States seem to beat us on price and also carry far larger stocks than the competing British makers. The range of size in demand is from 2 to 4 h.p. and from 6 ft. to 9 ft. head.
In agricultural machinery proper the outstanding importing dis- trict is Manchuria, and particularly South Manchuria. Here large holdings of group farming is practised, a system which encourages the use of machinery. In other parts of China the extension of the use of machinery will come with a cessation of civil strife and bring into cultivation much of the land not now touched.
144. In an endeavour to help the spread of cultivation, the Government is interesting itself in irrigation schemes.
An elec-
trical irrigation scheme has been tested by the Government Elec- tricity Station at Tsishuyen and found successful. Following this experiment, an irrigation district for Wusih and Chengchao has been established and districts are to be established in other For this provinces, particularly the north-west provinces. development three million dollars per annum from the Chinese Government and two million dollars from provincial funds are to be voted. Further, the Government are encouraging by teaching and example co-operative farming which will again lead to the use of machinery. In this educational work United States industrialists are giving active assistance. To avoid interference with existing cultivation it will be necessary for agricultural development to con- centrate on products required by growing industrialisation, such as cotton, silk and oil seeds, rather than on an increase of food products. This will increase the market for industrial machinery as a secondary effect. But almost certainly some form of hire purchase will be necessary to stimulate development, and co- operation of importers with the native banks will have to be encouraged.
(d) Mining and Metallurgy.
RESOURCES.
145. The extent of China's mineral resources is still extremely uncertain. Different authorities estimate the total coal reserve at such widely different figures as 1,000,000 million tons (con- siderably more than for the whole of Europe) and 23,000 million tons (about one-sixth of the coal reserve of England). The larger figure may be a fair estimate of the total quantity in any form ex- isting beneath the soil, irrespective of quality or economic con- siderations, but even so is probably too high. China is, however, certainly unfortunate in the quality of much of its coal (Kailan coal, for example, the most widely used coal in China, having often over 20 per cent. of ash), and allowing for this and for the thinness and great depth of many of the seams in the larger coal fields, the smaller figure probably gives a better idea of the quantity of coal economically mineable.
146. Three of the major coalfields of China, namely, those of Shansi, Szechuan, and Yunnan and Kweichow, are situated far inland. The extreme eastern fringe of the Shansi field is tapped by the Peking-Hankow railway, and 5 or 6 large-scale collieries have been started there. It seems likely that until the smaller but more accessible fields are approaching exhaustion, these inland fields will not be able to compete with them, and will only produce enough for purely local consumption from small outcrop workings. An exception may be made of the Shansi anthracite, which may So far as is obtain a wider market owing to its low ash content.
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