The sun., 1919-07-02
Empire With 100000, 900 Peo-
pie Rapidly Dropping Cen
fury Old Superstitions.
BAD JOSS LESS POTENT
Far East Looms as Attractive
Market for Many Kinds Of
Commodities.
~ LYNN w. MEEKINs,
Trade Con, m issioner, United states
bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce.

Domestic Commerce.
With Europe standing in the bread
line and South America becoming rbet-
ter explored and exploited. the Far
East naturally looms up as the most
attractive present market for the
American manufacturer and exporter.
The people are there and the money Is
there. 1t is simply a case of finding
out what their needs are and supplying
them with the goods desired. Outside Of
the United States there are about six
teen hundred million people In the
world. Of whom four hundred million
live in China.
At present the Chinese buy about
$3.50 worth of imported merchandise
per capita each year. II this were
increased to 81, the total purchases of
foreign goods would advance to $780,
O00, 900 annually. So China is a market
In which little things count, and just
because shiploads OF automobiles and
grand pianos do not find a sale there
now tho American exporter should not
infer that the trade field Is either cheap
or small.
China's purchasing power is low on
account of the uneven distribution of Its
large population. which Is due to the
lack of transportation facilities. There
are practically no roads and only six
thousand miles of railroads serving an
area one-sixth larger than that of the
United States, so that waterways AFFORD
the only means of communication In
most sections of the country. In add
ton to presenting a remarkable oppor-
tunity to American manufacturers who
will provide the necessary road making
machinery and railroad equipment, the
Improvement OF China's transportation
will tend to equalize the supply OF anC
demand for labor and to make accessible
| the rich mineral resources OF the re
public. thus increasing the buying power
| OF its people.
Five and Ten Cent stores Possible
Not long ago a young Chinese studen
| in one of our Western universities eE
pressed his interest in opening five ant
ten cent stores in several cities o
| North China. That way Of doing bust
| ness Is apparently the best adapted Il
| reach the majority of our Chinese Gus
| toners Their retail purchases ar
incredibly small. The copper cent look
big to them; II they used American
money we should have TO mint new
coins representing the mills into whicl
\ our cents are nominally divided. That
| however. Is the retail side. The whole
| sale side Is an entirely different matter
| II has not been cutomary for the Amer
| lean firm to deal directly with tn
| Chinese firm The business has bee
handled largely through import an
| export houses which operate upon tn
old principle OF barter. cxchaDgin
| American goods for Chinese product:
and these concerns trade on an extensiv
| scale.
| An American engineer who travelle
| throughout China told me the othe
day that he was chiefly impressed b
the ample quantity OF available fue
| There are vast coal fields. containin
the largest deposits OF anthracite out
side of Pennsylvania, although tn
quality OF the Chinese hard coal is nc
| comparable with that foupd In til
United States. Such resources presae
an unlimited industrial developmer
| which is already under way as a 1-ec
result % the reduction of imports fror
war causes. Scores OF articles prev
ously obtainahle only from abroad ar
now being manufactured in China, bu
the market is so large that domesti
production cannot begin TO meet III
demand.