CHINA.
371
1869.
NET IMPORTS.*
Haikwan Tls.
67,108,533
is also accorded to British merchants to trade at Chung-king and Yunnan-fu, at which places British Consular Agents reside. The import trade from Great Britain, exclusive of the Colony of Hongkong, centres at Shanghai, Hankow, and Tientsin, while the bulk of the exports to Great Britain pass through the ports of Shanghai, Foochow, Hankow, and Canton. The annual value of the foreign trade of China was as follows in each of the sixteen years from 1869 to 1884:-
YEAR.
EXITS.
Haikwan Ts.
60,139,237
TOTAL,
Haikwan Tls, 127,247,770
1870.
63,693,268
55,294,866
118,988,134
1871
70,103,077
66,853,161
136,956,238
1872...
67.317,049
75,288,125
142,605,174
1873
66,637,209
69,451,277
136,088,485
1874.
64,360,864
66,712,868
131,073,732
1875
67,803,247
68,912,929
138,716,176
1876.
70,269,574
80,850,512
151,120,086
1877
73,253,170
67,4 5,022
140,698,192
1878.
70,804,027
67,17,179
137,976,206
1879..
82,227,424
72,281,262
151,508,686
1880...
79,293,452
77,883,587
157,177,039
1881
91,910,877
71,452,974
163,363,851
1882.
77 715,228
67,336,846
145,052,074
1883
1884....
73,567,702 72,760,758
70,197,693
143,765,395
67,147,680
139,908,438
Of the total value of the imports and exports to foreign countries for 1884- Tls. 139,908,438—Tls. 105,949,183 must be credited to Great Britain and her colonies, including India. The remainder is thus divided among other countries:--United States, Tls. 10,697,965; Continent of Europe, Tls. 11,822,744; Russia, viá Odessa, Tls. 1,261,846; Siberia and Russia, vid Kiachta, Tls. 3,739,667; Russian Manchuria, Tls. 745,472; Japan, Tls. 5,451,367; Philippine Islands, Tls. 242,580; Cochin China, Tls. 427,368; Siam, Tls. 374,676; Java, Tls. 370,752; Turkey and Egypt Tls. 318,364; and South America, Tls. 11,887. Among the exports, tea and silk take the first places. In 1884 L export of tea amounted to 2,016,218 piculs, of which 1,274,227 piculs went to Great Britain and British possessions. Manufactured Cotton and Woollen Goods and Opium constitute the bulk of the imports of foreign produce into China. The value of Cotton Goods imported in 1884 was Tls. 22,141,222; that of Woollen Goods, Tls. 3,709,678; and of Miscellaneous Piece Goods, Tls. 133,434. Most of these goods came from British looms. The value of the Opium imported in 1881 was Tls. 26,150,241,
Although China is traversed in all directions by roals, they are usually mere tracks, or at best footpaths, along which the transport of goods is a tedious and difficult undertaking. It was owing to the imperfect means of communication that such a fearful mortality attended the last famines in Shansi, Honan, and Shantung. A vast internal trade is, however, carried on over the roads, and by means of numerous canals and navigable rivers. The most populous part of China is singularly well adapted for the contruction of a network of railways, and a first attempt to introduco them into the country was made in 1876, when a line from Shanghai to Woosung, ten miles in length, was constructed by an English Company. The little railway was subsequently purchased by the Chinese Government and closed by them on the 21st October, 1877, when the rails were taken up and the line with rolling stock shipped to Formosa, and his never since bera utilised. Latterly the introduction of railways has been advocated by some of the high officials. A telegraph line has been erected between Tientsin and Shanghai, wh was opened in December, 1882, and has since been extended southwards Canton. A line between Tientsin and Peking was opened to traffic in August, 1884. Hankow is also connected with the telegraph system, and a line from Canton to Lungchau-fu, on the Kwangsi and Tonquin border, was
* Wet Importa, i.e., the value of the Foreign Goods imported direct from Foreign Countries, less the value of the Foreign Goods re-exported to Foreign Countries during the year.
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