Directory_and_Chronicle_1922 — Page 745

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

NEWCHWANG

679

Mukden; and the South Manchurian Railway, through its branch line from Tashih- chiao, maintains daily communication with Dairen, Port Arthur, Mukden, Tiehling and Changchun. At the latter place the Chinese Eastern Railway connects for Harbin and Europe by the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The value of the trade of the port during the year 1920 was Hk. Tls. 46,129,768 as compared with Hk. Tls. 41,341,286 in 1919, and Hk. Tls. 29,988,161 in 1918. Until a few years back Newchwang had the monopoly of the trade of Manchuria, but now she has powerful competitors in Harbin in the north and Dairen in the south. In spite of the competition she is holding her own, owing partly to the cheaper rates on water- borne produce from the hinterland, and partly to the reluctance of the Chinese merchants to leave an old-established business' centre with all its vested interests. As the result of a deputation sent to Tokyo in 1919, freight rates on the South Manchurian Railway were revised in such a manner that Newchwang is no longer so heavily handicapped as it was in its competition with Dairen. "Perhaps the best proof of the certainty of Newchwang's future"-says the Commissioner of Customs in his report dated March, 1920-" can be found in recent Japanese develop- ments here; land purchases of nearly 2 million yen are said to have been made, and companies have been floated with an aggregate capital of over 3 million yen for the exploitation of banking, steamship and godown, and land and building interests. Newchwang's gain will not be Dairen's loss, for the development of Manchuria and Siberia promises to be so great and rapid that within 10 years it is probable that more railways and more ports will be required to deal with the immense surplus of produce.'

The chief articles of export are agricultural products-beans, millet, maize etc., and their by-products beancake, bean oil and samshu, with a fair amount of bristles, ginseng, native medicines, wild and refuse silk and skins and furs thrown in. Another article of export has lately arisen in Fushun coal, and the South Manchurian Railway, finding the cost of laying down the coal at Newchwang is cheaper than at Dairen, is developing the export trade from Newchwang. The Anshan Steel Works were expected to become an important addition to local industry, but up to the present they have not realised the hopes of their promoters. The mining zone covers about ten square miles, and borings have proved the existence of one hundred mil- lion tons of ore with a purity of from 40 to 60 per cent.

The greater part of the export trade here is with Japan and the southern Chinese ports, but some direct shipments of beans and beancake have been made to Europe. Details of a scheme for the improvement of the Upper Reaches of the Liao River and the deepening of the Bar at its mouth were under consideration for over two years, and a preliminary Agreement-embodying regulations for the financing and operation of the scheme-signed in July, 1911, by the Consular Body and Taotai, was for some time afterwards the subject of negotiations between the Diplomatic Body at Peking and the Chinese Central and Provincial Authorities. The scheme was eventually ratified in the course of 1914, and Conservancy works were begun in 1915. The patch of 13,000 feet having a depth of only 6 feet at low water ordinary springs, which existed in 1913, has been very considerably reduced as the result of the construction of training walls. By the spring of 1922 it is hoped to have a powerful suction dredger at work on the bar, which, in conjunction with the training walls, will, it is anticipated, give a depth of 26 feet across the bar at ordinary high water and thus make the port of Newchwang accessible to ocean shipping. The new Quarantine Hospital was opened on July 10th, 1920.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1922 — Page 745

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