722
SHANGHAI
besides large numbers outside. Of private vehicles there were licensed, in 1919, 6,726 rickshas, 578 carriages, and 1,378 motor-cars.
of
The currency of Shanghai is the tael weight of silver-equal to 579 84 grains troy, fineness 0.916, but reckoned at 98. That is to say, an actual weight of 98 taels is counted as 100. The Shanghai tael thus contains, or should contain, 520.43 gr. troy of pure silver, but varies owing to the crude methods of assay. This is however, the mean. The silver known as "sycee" is cast into "shoes" of fifty taels, more or less. The foreign banks issue notes of the value of one dollar and upwards for both taels and dollars. Smaller transactions are conducted in clean Mexican dollars, or equivalent dollars from the various provincial mints, smaller subsidiary provincial silver coins and copper cash. There are twenty-eight foreign and numerous native banks in the Settlement. In 1896 the Imperial Chinese Bank, under Chinese and European management, was opened by Imperial Decree.
TRADE AND COMMERCE
+
Shanghai is the great emporium for the trade of the Yangtsze and Northern and Corean ports, and to some extent for Japan. The total import and export trade of 1868 amounted to sixty-five million taels. It steadily increased each year until 1881, when it reached Hk. Tls. 141,921,357, but afterwards showed a great decline, the total for 1884 having been twenty per cent. less than that of 1881. There was, however, a rapid recovery up to 1905. The total trade import and export for the last eight years, as returned by the Customs Statistical Department, is given below:-
1912... Hk. Tls. 491,485,487 at Ex. 1.52 Mex. $747,057,940 at Ex. 3s.
03d., £ 75,002,733
ני
Old., £ 80,585,997 8 d., £ 68,051,150 7 d., £ 71,247,688 3s. 31 d., £ 94,761,326 4s. 3 d., £125,263,808 5s. 37 d., £165,755,416 6s. 4d., £243,201,949
1913...
,,
533,534,878
1.51
""
""
1914...
"}
498,695,147
1.47
""
1915...
549,379,765
1.41
"
1916...
""
571,245,672
1.54
1917...
580,232,838
1.63
1918...
"
627,094,382
1.61
""
""
1919...
""
768,006,155
1.68
99
""
$805,637,665 $733,081,866 $774,625,468 $879,718,335 $945,779,526 $1,009,621,955 $1,290,250,340
3s.
""
2s.
""
2s.
""
33
"1
"}
""
The following tables show the export of Tea and Silk for eight years:—
Tea- Black Brick
1911...piculs 177,294
Green
Silk Wild
1912...
1913...
1914...
1915...
""
1916...
1917..
1918...
,,
1919...
73,351 146,232
37,688 220,190 364,420 314,396 141,711 502,460 290,985 196,817 400,015 277,565 273,076 434,466 311,605 222,384 404.910 296,214 175,232 214,570 208,292 79,716 164,175 149,344 249,658
307,917
1911...59,224
1912...86,554
Waste Cocoons
27,679 81,064 16,313 14,899 76,301 18,792 1913...73,446 23,762 76,480 19,530 1914...54,927 13,727 52,474 20,863 1915...79,089 24,260 39,879 31,170 1916...66,609 10,986, 106,448 23,398 1917...66,837 11,826
71,451
29,428 1918...60,943 15,525 81,467 28.550 1919...82,289 14,099
77,988 30,894
The Import trade in Foreign Goods for 1919 was as follows:-
From Foreign Countries and Hongkong From Chinese Ports
...
...
...
Hk. Tls. 261,701,074 3,818,197
...
...
...
...
...
Hk. Tls. 265,519,271
The following were the net values, after deducting re-exports, of the principal classes of Foreign Goods imported during that year:-
Cotton Goods. Tls. 25,773,183] Kerosene Oil,
Electl. Metal,&c.Tls. 1,602,803
Metals
...
12,066,915 &c.
Tls. 3,902,625 Cotton Yarn 9,698,207 Dyes and Colours Tobacco, Cigars &c. 9,207,179 Wol. and C'ton Mix.
Leather
...
...
...
3,271,573
Soap
...
940,926 778,633
Fish, Salted, &c.
729,168
Sugar
Cotton, Raw Machinery... Coal
...
6,118,080 and Wol. Goods 5,626,927 Misc. Piece Goods 5,289,174 Timber
2,871,939
Gunny & C'ton Bgs.
688,859
2,732,409 Ginseng
440,833
2,501,735 Sundries
18,643,507
...
4,974,579 Paper
...
...
1,745,839
Total Hk. Tls. 119,605,093
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