Trade Rivalry in China.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 November 1916, Page 2

Trade Rivalry in China.

CH.LXA'S EXPORT TRADE. (From London Times' Peking Correspondent.) While Japan in enjoying .greati** pro&pciHy as a result of the war than the. country has ever previously experienced, China is reaping l-'.ttle, il' any. advantage. The' explanations, of cour.se, thiil- wh.'Ce Liiina, like Japan, suffers no .less and trifling meonvonce on account of remote hostilities, she .has little to spll that would be of much value to th b?ll.igerents, except perhaps minerals and a lew oilier ur..manu!sc:iui,c_l products. Even if Clina w ere a manufaetnrng country. t'ie .shortage of available Ireiglit .-.pace would prevent her from exp-rling to any tonrsHcr.sbie extent. Slill China's export trade is of present c\t; sequence, and ,n the future may be one of the richest commercial piizes that the world can offer. It Vi an : \\'ium that thoss who secure control of a co untry's export trade will, other things being equal, control the .'•nipcrt trade. Before the Avar a considerable percentage cf Ch'nu's export trade ill secondary products, such ai> seeds, veg tnble oils, hair, etc., was in the handli of the German*. British an ! Americn nicavha:its were not slow to invade this field after the outbreak of the war, and there .scened for a time a g-cort prospect time the liiitish would secure a large- proportion of the f>n.ide During the last few months, however, the British have found the tiade slipping iiAvay from them. Quotations submitted to London brought the laconic reply "Prices foj high." iSoni'e -firms then telegraphed new offers, quoting the exact cost, insurance and) freight of the product conccvned, and entirely cutting out tile r own commission.. Again they Avere informed that the prices wore too high for business to de dune. lnveistigati.oll showed that Japanese firms in Clina were buying 'Ciiineso produce at higher rates than the British and American firms could affuvd to pay if they Avere to get any profit, and Avere offering it in London at prices that wouk'i have represented' a heavy lots to the British and American firms even if ,t had been purchased 10 pay. This seeming paradox is explained by the advantageous freight rates enjoyed by Japanese shippers. -there* is no suggestion that the act- • .till of the. Japanese merchants and steamship owners in establishing a virtual monopoly of China's export trade, with a reversionary claim to the bulk of the l/mport trade, is not perfectly honourable, and legitimate. It undoubtedly is, but none the lees immediate action is indicated of 'British trade in China is not to susta.n a bloAv from j Avhioh recovery av'Jl be difficult. The steamship limes Avhicli constitute the HomeAvard Conference can lia'rdly be blamed for the high freight charges , they impose as they have a. large number of their vessels requisitioned for ( military sea-vices, to say nothing of the j losses they have sustained in consequence of Germany s ui,. slip. Precisely. Avliat means filloll Id be 1 taken ta preserve the tvade that 'Brit- ' ish capital and enterprise have buiit ] up in China could best be determined ;by those Avho are in close touch A\<_th , the Board of Trade,after consultation Avith the British Chambers of Commerce iu China, AMERICAN EXTERPRISE IX CEIXA. Although the Wilson Administration, I not without some degree of ostentation, withdrew thtiir support from the American banking group in China, thus causing the withdrawal of the group from the International Financial Consortium, the prophecy that .that Avas then hazarded that America .Avonld practically retire from the l"'ar Eastern commercial field has been 'falsified,. Through the agency of a Danish-Amer-ican firm, Andersen, Meyer and Co., ' American commercial and financial interests are sedulously seeking profitI promising contracts and opening, in j China. Branches of this firm have been i opened in the main commiercfial centres in the Republic, and amongst other things an important contract for the ejection and construction of cotton. \ mills liaa been secured. A financial body knoivn as the International Corporation, but an exclusively American concern, is nink{iig a bold bid for participation in the* supply of capital for development Avork in China. TlnVs corporation is associated to some extent with Anderson. Meyer and Co., ' Jt i:s understood to have concluded a contract with the Chinese Government to finance the dredging and other opertions designed to re-establish the j Grand Canal as a navigable water way, j audi also to finance the construction .of the extension' of one of the northern raihvays. A Avell-knoAvn American contracting firm, Siems and Craey, is assorfated Av-itli the corporation iu these two enterprises. | I'or 'reasons sufficiently plain Amer- | ica is the only country at present in a positon. to undertake large scale operations in China, amd there are indicat- , ions that the opportunity is not going ! to be neglected.