Directory_and_Chronicle_1939 — Page 463

PEI-TAI-HO AND CHINWANGTAO

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a normal trend, and a good year was predicted.

was predicted. After the Lu Kou Ch'iao incident, however, all prospects were altered. From the second week of July the Pei-Ning Railway was wholly engaged in the transfer of troops and military materials, fairly normal communications only being re-established towards the end of September. Trade with the interior was therefore almost an impossi- bility, while the hostilities taking place at Shanghai and, later, the blockade against Chinese shipping affected very adversely the sea-borne interport trade to and from Chinwangtao. It is thus surprising that the total trade of the year ended with a larger turnover than that of the three previous years. Direct for- eign imports amounted to $3.7 million as against $3.5 million in 1936; coastwise importations of Chinese produce, $2.5 million as against $4.8 million; direct exports abroad, $11.4 million as against $7.1 million; and exports of Chinese produce to Chinese ports, $11.2 million as against $12.4 million. The increase in imports was due in part to the arrival direct from abroad of articles formerly coming via Shanghai, and in exports solely to large coal shipments to Japan. The actual value of imports in this area is of course much higher than recorded in view of the forcible immunity conferred upon the "special trade" in kerosene and sugar which flourished outside harbour limits. It is of interest to note that among railway supplies seven locomotives, valued at $919,848, were imported for the Lung-Hai Railway, while in 1936 24 railways cars, valued at $1.4 million, were imported for the Pei-Ning Railway. Timber imports more than doubled in value from $312,707 to $699,586, due to the large quantity of pit props im- ported from Japan by the Kailan Mining Administration. Exports of coal increased from 2.4 million to 2.9 million metric tons, of which 1,482,744 metric tons was exported abroad, Japan being the greatest consumer.

The average daily output of the Kailan Mining Administration is 15,000 metric tons, nearly half of which is conveyed each day from the mines for export. The Liuchiang Coal Mines, which are located about 10 miles inland from Chinwangtao, turn out some 600 metric tons of coal daily. The other main exports were ground- nuts, of which 67,943 quintals was exported abroad as against 50,479 quintals in 1936, both crops and foreign demand being good; coastwise shipments, how- ever, declined from 3,283 quintals in 1936 to 1,147 quintals; bricks and tiles shipped abroad and coastwise were valued at $265,909 as against $312,755, and window glass of the heavy grades at $47,059 as against $50,087, this latter com- modity going to Hongkong and the Straits Settlements. The Yao Hua Glass Works at Chinwangtao, a Sino-Japanese enterprise which formerly employed several Belgian technical experts, is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Rice and wheat flour are replacing kaoliang as the favourite staple food in the district, but an embargo enforced in August at Shanghai on the export of the two former staples caused a great rise in their price.