COMMERCE. The commercial relations of China with foreign countries are a matter of recent his tory. Although the Portuguese established a trading port in China as early as 1522, and trade was thenceforth carried on almost without inter ruption by them and the Dutch. the English, and the Americans, these secular relations lacked stability and safety, owing to the refusal of the Chinese Government to grant suitable protection, and to its avowed hostility to foreigners. Only since 1842. the year of the conclusion of the Treaty of Nanking, which followed the so-called Opium War with England, has commerce enjoyed the official sanction of the Chinese Government in specially designated ports. The number of these ports steadily increased as one or another Euro pean power succeeded in wringing concessions from China. As a rule such concessions have followed in the wake of active hostilities, and un doubtedly the troubles in China engendered by the Boxer uprising in 1900 are certain likewise to lead to an unprecedented expansion of Chinese commerce. Previous to the conclusion of the last international agreement the following ports were open to foreign commerce: of all Continental Europe except Russia, and the trade of Russia was only about one-half that United States. The figures are in haikwan taels (tael=73 cents gold).
There are to be added to these: Vatting (Tibet), rupees 1,755,397; and Kongmun and Kuni•hnk, for which there are no available data. The most important of the above list is Shang hai. The growth of China's foreign trade since the opening of the above treaty ports may be seen from the following table: These figures show the unexampled increase in the trade of China in the year preceding the Boxer ulirising, when both the imports and exports more than doubled in value as compared with 1890. This enormous increase was due to railways which had opened up hitherto inaccessible parts of the country to the world's trade. As the statistical secretary of the ALiritime Customs of China remarks, there is no reason why these figures should not treble within a short time—as soon as railway facilities shall citable the Chinese producer to dispose of his surplus products to the foreign trailer. He cannot do this at present, owing to the extremely high cost of transpor tation. To quote from the official report: form an idea of what future prospects are, it is fair to make a comparison with India. The areas
of the two empires are almost identical and their products very similar. Rut China has a larger, a noire industrious, and more intelligent popula tion: mhile, on the whole, the country is probably more fertile and possesses greater mineral re sources. In the former country trade is assisted by good roads, railways, and lightness ar ab settee of taxation; in the latter. at present, it is hampered by directly opposite conditions. The result is that the exports from India art• worth three times the exports from China. With equal opportunities, which the building of railways and opening of mines will bring about, the dis crepancy should disappear." As may be gathered from the following table of the export and import trade with the leading countries in 1899, the three closest rivals for the growing trade of China in the order of their im portance aw Great Britain, and the United States. The value of the latter's trade in 1599 was only about three million dollars below that Among the imports, cotton goods occupy the foremost place. their value in 1S99, bk. tls. 104, 000,000, constituting nearly 40 per cent. of all the imports. According to ollieial reports, Amer ican and Japanese goods are in greatest demand and are forcing the products of other nations out of the Chinese market. In cotton yarn the Jap anese lead. The next largest item among im ports is represented by 'sundries.' including all kinds of articles of personal use designed chiefly for comfort or luxury, such as candles, cigars, clocks and watch?s, lamps, perfumery. umbrellas, and soap. The value of these in 1899 had risen to nearly 112.000.000 tads, as compared with less than 90,000.000 in 1898. The same ratio is true of opium, which formed in value about one-eighth of all the imports, in spite of its enormous pro duction in China. While the imports thus evi dence an increased call for articles of personal use, the demand for raw materials, especially metals, seems as yet to be stationary, and amounts to less than 10.000.000 taels per year. or about per cent. of all the imports. It is this item, however, which is destined to increase most with the industrial awakening of the coun try.