CO129-619-1 Parliamentary delegation to China 1-9-1947 - 23-12-1947 — Page 153

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· 78.

This picture of unbalanced trade as shown by the figures above is symptomatic of the general trend of affairs in China. Her trade with the U.S.A. is even more unbalanced than it is with us. China's resources and foreign exchange were dwindling so rapidly that last November she had to introduce a very severe and rigid import licensing scheme, over which there havo bccn many complaints owing to the unsatisfactory way in which the scheme was originally administered. There are, however, gradual signs of rationalisation in the administration of import licensing and serious attempts are being made to secure that China only imports the goods which she requires. Unless, however, the positive side of her trade, namely her exports, can be increased, Ching cannot be regarded as a market which will continue to be of use to us. We ourselves are not in a position to trade for credit and in the future will have to relate our exports even more closely to the quantities of goods we can buy. In fact, our trade with China must be conditioned by China's exporting capacity and we have had to admit so far that this is very discouraging.

Over the long-term, the various experts of Missions which have studied the possibilities of the Chinese market point out that in view of China's ambitious programmes of industrialisation, there should be a vast and expanding market for manufactured goods

all kinds, especially engineering and capital · equipment. The Trade Mission's Report, when

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published/

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