A14
CHINA
On account of the constantly increasing popularity of air transportation evidenced by these statistics, orders have been placed for four new Fairchild Amphibians, each with a cruising speed of 160 miles per hour and a passenger- carrying capacity of eight persons, for use during the coming year on the Shanghai-Hankow-Chungking route. These planes will reduce the flying time on this route by almost 50 per cent. Similarly, a new Douglas Transport › plane, with a cruising speed of 200 miles per hour and a carrying capacity of 14 persons, has been ordered for the Shanghai-Peiping line. An order has also been placed for a tri-motor Ford plane for use on a new route to be opened almost at once from Chungking to Yunnan. The powerful plane in question will make the trip over this route in three hours and a half, as against the three to four weeks that such a journey by land would occupy.
By courtesy of the Eurasia Aviation Corporation the following facts are supplied concerning the operations of this particular corporation. In May 1933 a service was inaugurated between Shanghai and Sinkiang, with stops at Nanking, Loyang, Sian, Lanchow, Suchow, Hami, and Urumchi (Tihwafu). Since September 1933, however, it has been impossible to operate beyond Lanchow owing to the troubles in Sinkiang province. On the 1st May of the year under review a new air line was established by this corporation between Peiping and Canton, with stops at Taiyuan, Loyang, Hankow and Changsha. At the same time the short Peiping-Loyang service, previously inaugurated, was discontinued as a separate entity by making Loyang the point of change for passengers and freight travelling by the Sinkiang Shanghai and the Peiping-Canton lines. Later in the year, however, Chengchow was made the junction for these lines. Another route, between Lanchow and Ninghsia, was opened on the 15th June. The Eurasia Aviation Corporation's plaues' flew 486,902 kilometres, and carried 1,074 passengers as well as 43,092 kilogrammes of cargo and 4,170 kilogrammes of mail matter during the course of the year.
In South China, two new air services were inaugurated and maintained by the South-western Aviation Corporation during 1934: one from Canton to Lungchow via Wuchow and Nanning, and the other from Canton to Pakhoi via Mowming and Kiungchow.
THE SUMMING UP
In his summing up on the conditions of trade in 1934, Mr. MacEwan writes:-
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To recapitulate, it has been found, as regards the country's trade position in general, that the value of imports declined by 23.4 per cent. and that the value of exports declined by only 12.6 per cent. during the year under review, resulting in a substantial improvement in the appearance of the account, and that, as successive annual reductions of the adverse balance have been achieved since 1931,* amounting respectively to $132 million, $222 million, and $238 million, the total excess of imports over exports has been reduced by consider- ably more than one-half during the past three years.
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Analysing the trade position in greater detail, it has been found that the improvement in the import account for the year was due largely to decreased purchases of cotton goods, rice, wheat, wheat flour, and kerosene oil; and, as it is hoped eventually to make this country independent of foreign supplies of the first four of these commodities, seeing that they are all produced domesti cally in great quantity, the reduced outlay on imports is held to be of double significance, in that, not only was a necessary saving effected on behalf of the whole account, but this saving was effected principally in connexion with these staple foodstuffs and manufactures.
In the matter of exports the opinion has been expressed (see the article "Exports") that it would be a mistake to impute the blame for the compara-
* Vide Table II in the article "Value' of Trade."
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