976 CHINA 



War Loans (1894-98) 37,817,752 (total charge 1913 for interest and principal 3.179.273): 

 Boxer Indemnity. 1 ii5,94 6 . IO 7 (2,984,895): Indemnity Adjustment Loan (1905), 

 1,000,000 (57,250); Railway Loans. 2 33,5i.6o7 (1,851,727); General Loans, 3 

 9.923,336 (100.691). In addition there were outstanding a number of provincial and 

 private loans, the total amount of which was not published. They exceed 3,500,000. 



Owing to the Revolution no Boxer Indemnity payments were made by China after 

 November I, 1911, and the Powers agreed to the postponement of payments until January 

 i, 1913. The arrears and interest on deferred payments were estimated to amount on that 

 date to 3,329,000. Towards this sum there would be available from the Maritime and 

 Native Customs a surplus revenue of 1,132,000. The Inspector General of Customs, 

 however, issued a statement in which he placed the total sum required during 1913 to meet 

 all payments for Boxer Indemnity and foreign loans secured on the Customs Revenue at 

 5,993,000. Towards this amount he estimated that the Customs would provide 5,490,000 

 while the Seven Likin Collectorates specified in the 1898 Anglo-German Loan Agreement 

 would add 637,500. In order to be on the safe side the Inspector General suggested that 

 400,000 taels (55,000 approximately) should be allotted monthly to form a reserve fund 

 for the services of the loans indicated. This arrangement would leave the greater part of 

 the Salt Revenue (estimated at over 6,000,000) free for other foreign loans. 



Loan Negotiations. The loan negotiations of the Chinese Government during 1912 

 attracted considerable attention. During 191 1 the Quadruple Syndicate, comprising British, 

 French, German and American banks, had arranged the Currency Loan of 10,000,000 

 and the Hukuang Railway Loan of 6,000,000. The outbreak of the Revolution prevented 

 more than an instalment of the former being handed over, for development purposes in 

 Manchuria. Immediately after the abdication of the Manchu dynasty, the Chinese Gov- 

 ernment, being in financial straits, approached the Quadruple Syndicate with a view to ob- 

 taining a loan for reorganisation purposes, the sum of 60,000,000 being mentioned in this 

 connection. Several advances were made by the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank on behalf 

 of the Syndicate, but no decision was arrived at in regard to a comprehensive loan. On 

 March 15, 1912 the Chinese Government signed an agreement for a loan from a syndicate 

 representing the Banque Sino-Belge and the Eastern Bank, secured on the Peking-Kalgan 

 Railway. This loan was regarded by the Quadruple Syndicate as a breach of faith on the 

 part of the Chinese Government in view of certain undertakings given by the latter, and in 

 May the loan was cancelled, except in respect of advances already made. In June Russian 

 and Japanese banks joined the Four Nations Group, which now became a Sextuple Syndi- 

 cate. Negotiations for the large loan were resumed but no agreement was reached owing 

 to China's reluctance to admit the form of supervision over the expenditure of the loan 

 stipulated for by the banks. The Syndicate also required a monopoly of future loans to China 

 up to 60,000,000 during the next five years. As neither side would give way and the 

 financial embarrassment of the Chinese Government was becoming more acute, the latter 

 decided to apply elsewhere. On August 30 a loan agreement for 10,000,000 was ratified 

 with Messrs. C. Birch Crisp & Co. of London, of which half, or 5,000,000, was shortly after- 

 wards issued. The loan was made a first charge on the surplus revenues of the Salt Gabelle. 

 The British Government, however, refused to give its sanction, and further negotiations 

 were suspended, efforts being made to restrict China's dealings to the Sextuple Syndicate. 



Communications. Including the Russian (1081 m.) and Japanese (723 m.) systems in 

 Manchuria, in 1912 there were open to traffic in China 6,028 miles of railway, while 2,000 m. 

 more were nominally or actually under construction. Recent extensions include: the 

 Yunnan Railway (Laokai on the Tongking frontier, to Yunnanfu), opened in April 1910; 

 Canton-Kowloon Railway (112 m.), the British section (Kowloon to Sumchun) being opened 

 in October 1910, the Chinese section in October 1911 ; Tientsin-Pukow Railway ,[the northern or 

 German section being opened in February 1912, with the exception of the Yellow River 

 bridge which was not completed until November, the British section in June 1912; the 

 Kirin-Changchun Railway, opened October 1912. The Canton-Hankow Railway has made but 

 little progress: of the first section from Canton 73 m. were completed by 1911, and trains 

 ran on the 30 m. between Changsha and Chuchou. The Szechuan-Hupeh line and the 

 Hangchow-Ningpo line have made practically no progress in Chinese hands. 



Posts. On May 28, 1911 the Chinese Post Office, which had hitherto been under the 

 control of the Inspector General of Customs, was transferred to the Ministry of Posts and 



1 The Boxer Indemnity amounted to 67,500,000, divided into 5 Series; the rate of 

 interest is d per cent and payment is spread over 39 years. The above amount represents 

 the total charges outstanding (interest and principal combined); it does not include the 

 arrears of payment which had accumulated since September 30, 1911. 



2 Railway Loans arc charged on the lines with or without a Government guarantee. 



3 These include: i. Japanese Loan, 1911, of 1,000,000 to the Ministry of Communica- 

 tions: 2. Telegraph Loan, 1911, of 500,000: 3. 400,000 advanced of the Currency 

 Reform Loan, 1911, of 10,000,000, which has not yet been floated: 4. 1,815,000 repre- 

 senting advances made by the Sextuple Group between February and June 1912: 5. 

 1,250,000 advances from the Belgian, Syndicate as part of loan of 5,000,000 now can- 

 celled: 6. 5,000,000 loan floated August 1912 by Messrs. Birch Crisp & Co. 



