NINGPO ("City of the peaceful waves"), an important Chinese city and chief commercial centre of the province of Chekiang, lying in a fertile plain backed by mountains on the south side of Hangchow Bay, and about 12 miles upstream from the mouth of the River Yung. The district of Ningpo, covering an area of 66 square II has a population of about 68o,000, of whom 212,397, according to a recent census (1928), live in the city. The city is of great antiquity and has occupied its present site since A.D. 713. It was one of the earliest centres of European settlement in China, the Portuguese arriving there about 152o. The early colony, known as Liampo, flourished until 1545, when the traders, owing to their illegalities, were driven out by the Chinese. Subsequent regulations and restrictions made foreign trade with Ningpo virtually impossible. In 1840 British war vessels blockaded Ningpo and the following year, after the fall of Chinhai, a fortified town at the mouth of the Yung river, it was entered without resistance. In 1842, by the Treaty of Nanking, Ningpo was opened to foreign trade, and the question then arose as to whether Shanghai or Ningpo should become the commercial metropolis in this region of the coast. Shanghai assumed that rank and since then has impeded the growth of Ningpo's trade. The opening of Wuhu (1877) and Hangchow (1896) also contributed to the diversion of this trade. Since the War, however, it has increased considerably; the total value, in millions of Haikwan taels, rising from 34.4 in 1921 to 44.9 in 1924.
These figures show an apparently unfavourable trade balance, but the regular remittances of numerous natives of Ningpo in busi ness at Shanghai and elsewhere, more than counterbalance the trade deficit. Ningpo is the port of shipment for cotton grown in the neighbouring districts ; the annual export to Shanghai amount ing to about 180,00o bales, for native drugs, tea, and more especially, fish and fish products. It has about 1,500 "couples" of junks engaged in the sea-fisheries around the Chusan archi pelago and supplies large numbers of fishermen. Ningpo is also noted for its grass mats, made of reed or grass grown locally.
These mats find a market even in Japan, despite keen competition, owing to their cheapness. Rush is also specially grown and made into braids for straw hats, while laces are knitted in the neigh bourhood and shipped chiefly to Shanghai. On the import side, Shanghai supplies Ningpo with considerable quantities of cotton yarn and cotton piece-goods. There are also large imports of kerosene oil and drugs. The total value of the sugar trade of Ningpo is approximately $1,500,000 a year; 70% of the sugar comes from foreign sources and the remainder from Fukien province.
Inland waterway communication in the vicinity of the city is provided by the Yung and the Fenghwa-kiang, as well as by canals. There is a daily steamer service to Shanghai, and regular sailings to Chusan and as far afield as Wenchow. Railway con nection with Hangchow, the capital of Chekiang province and about 100 miles distant, is made by the Shanghai-Hangchow Ningpo Railway. The chief crops in the district around Ningpo, in order of importance, are rice, beans, wheat, cotton, rush and reed.
Various modern manufacturing industries have been established in the city. Of the cotton-mills the Ho Feng is the largest, draw ing the bulk of its raw cotton supply from the neighbouring dis trict of Yuyao. Its yarns are sold chiefly on the local market or elsewhere in Chekiang. About i,000 looms in small factories and households produce each year 30-40,000 pieces of silk, the bulk of which is dyed in Shanghai. There are, in addition, electrical supplies, hardware, knitting and sewing companies, candle, soap, and canning factories, and numerous tin-foil makers.