NANNING
甯南 Nan-ning
The port of Nanning, declared open to foreign trade on the 1st January, 1907, is situated on the left bank of the Tso-Kiang, one of the branches of the West River, 368 miles above Wuchow and' about 195 miles below Lungchow, the frontier port on the Tonkinese border. It lies in the centre of a wide fertile plain in a sharp bend of the river, which there describes nearly two-thirds of the arc of a circle. It is a hsien city and is the seat of the Chiang Chün and Hsün An Shih and Military and Civil Governors of Kwangsi Province. Below the walled city and adjacent to the lower suburbs is the site which has been set apart for a Settlement; it occupies the only spot near the city which is above high-water mark. The regulations do not allow the purchase of land on the Settlement site, but merely its lease for 30 years, which period may be extended on expiry for another 30 years. Foreigners desiring to lease land must apply through their Consul,
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The net value of the trade of the port advanced from Hk. Tls. 1,544,000 in 1907 to Hk. Tls. 5,385,478 in 1910, but dropped to Hk. Tls. 4,700,517 in 1911. trade of the port for 1914 was Hk. Tls. 6,890,010, compared with Hk. Tls. 7,600,752 in 1913, and Hk. Tls. 7,033,825 in 1912. Unsettlement is the word best characterising the general trade situation during the greater part of 1914, but a number of favourable features presented themselves towards the end of the year and the net result of the year's operations is apparently some definite, though slow, progress towards a condition of better things.
The bulk of the carrying trade is now done by motor boats, of which there is a fleet of 22 plying regularly throughout the year between Wuchow and Nanning, but rates of freight are low, and increasing competition caused by the building of new boats and the resultant cutting of prices have tended to operate to the disadvantage of the various shipping companies. The round trip can be made by motor boat from Wuchow in five to six days as against the journey by junk which takes about twenty days on the upward trip only. The only Europeans residing there at present are missionaries and the Customs staff, and one foreign firm.
Nanning is, next to Wuchow, the most important port on the West River. The site selected for the foreign settlement covers a very extensive area and is situated where the old city formerly stood, about a mile distant from the present walled city. Whether the area set apart for international residence and trade is ever likely to be fully occupied it is perhaps early yet to say.
It is only to be expected that enhanced prosperity together with an influx of officials and well-to-do merchants consequent on the transfer of the capital from Kueilin, and a general spread of civilisation, should engender a desire to adopt a state of life similar to that enjoyed in other parts of the republic in closer touch with western ideas. The establishment of a number of new shops and the enlargement of others may be held to indicate that the city population is more eager than ever to supply itself with various imported articles which it has learned to recognise as rendering existence more comfortable.
CUSTOMS, MARITIME
DIRECTORY
Asst. in Charge-R. F. C. Hedgeland
CONSULATES
Medical Officer-Dr. H. Lechmere Clift FRANCE Asst. Examiner W. Lloyd
府事領國法大
Vice-Con.--M. E. P. Point (Lungchow)
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