CONDITIONS IN CHINA.
The address delivered each year in Hong Kong to share- holders of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is always read with interest in the City, containing as it does instructive comments upon the main features of the financial and even political situation in China during the year under review. This year the address was delivered by Mr. T. E. Pearce, and on the whole the view taken was a moderately hopeful one. For while, of course, there is a good deal of chaos in the political situation, it is evident that to those on the spot that situation is just a little less chaotic than it appears from a distance. After referring to some of the many political disturbances in different parts of the country, Mr. Pearce said : " In spite of these conditions, the Central Government at Nanking have maintained their position." Commenting upon the financial position of the Chinese Government, Mr. Pearce stated that 1933 was the first full year in which no revenue was received from Manchuria, but that fact appears to have seriously affected only the Customs, as little other revenue was remitted from that quarter to the Central Government. Moreover, in spite of this loss, the Customs revenue was nearly 20,000,000 dollars higher than in 1932.
Previous page
