The population reaches 55o per sq.m. in the east and centre, near Chungking (q.v.), the commercial focus (pop. 635,000), going up to 90o per sq.m. on the irrigated land near Chengtu (q.v.), the capital (pop. 400,000). Wanhsien, Sui-fu, Luchow, Shunking, Fowchow and Huchow all appear to have over Ioo,000 inhabitants each. In spite of the numerous large centres, 90% of the population is rural, living mostly in large villages.
The mineral resources of the province are little developed, owing to difficulties of extraction and transportation. Coal, mainly bituminous and associated with iron, is mined by adits along the Yangtze valley, and supplies the river steamers plying the 348 m. between Chungking and Ichang (Hupeh province). Other coal and iron producing centres are the Min and Kialing valleys. Cop per is mined west of the Min river, where Ning-Yuan and Ya Chow prefectures are the main producing districts. Salt extrac tion by brine pumping is also a widely prevalent activity. Gold, silver, lead and antimony are also mined, mainly west of the Min river.
Trade is severely handicapped by topography, and the easiest and most utilized routes are those of the river valleys. Overland transport is extremely slow and is largely performed by coolie labour. Small junks carry goods to the great emporium of west
ern China, Chungking. This treaty port, opened in A.D. 189o, exports silk, tea, rice, cotton goods and tobacco from the Red basin, and hides, wool, timber, skins and medicines from the mountain area west of the Min river. The second category of goods generally comes down the Min river from Chengtu, the capital, a city at the edge of the mountain country, and so ad mirably placed to receive these commodities from such outpost towns as Tatsienlu and Ya-Chow. There are only two good over land roads, firstly, the Great North road from Peking via Sian (Shensi province) to Chengtu, and secondly, the Little North road from Wanhsien to Chengtu. Wanhsien, a small port on the Szechuanese side of the great Yangtze gorges, was opened to foreign trade in A.D. 1917, after 15 years' delay. The imports of Szechuan are mainly textiles, dyes, metals, soaps, kerosene, etc., whilst the exports, generally via Chungking and Hankow (Hupeh province) are silk and silk products, wax (from wax insects), tobacco, cotton goods and yarn, tea, wood oil, bristles, salt, sugar, musk and medicinal plants.
See F. von Richtofen, China, vol. iii. (Berlin, 1912) ; L. Richard, Geogr. de l'Empire de Chine (Shanghai, 1905).