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3xport credits to China.
less difficult than that traversed by the French line
from Indo-China to Yunnan, which was a profitable line.
SIR FREDERICK-LEITH-ROSS understood that the Burma
Government were in favour of linking up Burma with China
but that up to the present the Chinese had opposed it, the
Chinese Government were now interested in the scheme because
it would provide a land route for imports. He suggested
that the whole question should be examined from the
strategical and other points of view. The Foreign Office
undertook to collect the information available and to set
on foot an examination of the question by the Departments
concerned.
SIR FREDERICK LEITH-ROSS had already recommended that
the Export Credits Guarantee Department should appoint a
special representative in China and that they should adapt
their present system to the conditions prevailing in China.
He would be glad to have information as to the present
position.
MR. NIXON said that negotiations with a view to the
appointment of a representative had made considerable
progress, but it was not yet possible to make an annouccement
although he hoped to be able to do so very shortly.
As regards the working of the Export Credits Guarantee
scheme in respect of business in China and the suggestion
that it was difficult to adopt the Department's form of
contract to conditions in China, it must be said that in
fact the contract was sufficiently flexible. It was not
in the power of the Department to give guarantees to
firms which were not domiciled in this country (e.g., to
British merchants in China); any extension of the Department!
activities in this direction would require legislation.
In practice, however, this difficulty could often be
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