LIFE IN SHANGHAI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22250, 26 October 1935, Page 18

LIFE IN SHANGHAI

METHODS OF TRADING MARKET FOR DOMINION GOODS Anyone who went to China with the idea that he would be able to work up a business connection in a month would make an enormous mistake, as the Chinese are conservative and slow to move, said Mr. S. Hutchison, of Shanghai, a former New Zealander. who is on a business visit to the Dominion. In the course of an interview in Wellington, Mr. Hutchison spoke of Chinese life and trading methods. It was necessary, first of all. he said, to find out what the Chinese could buy. Tinned milk, milk powders, and casein were among the goods from New Zealand sold there. Asked to what extent New Zealand trade bad developed in China, Mr. Hutchison said that the Dominion was making good progress. "There are several things I think we can work in," he added, "commodities that are being imported from other countries. One notable item is rabbit fur. The Chinese, I think, use it for the manufacture of felt hats." New Zealand's greatest competition, he continued, came from America and the Dutch people. "Australia," he said, "is another competitor, hut we sell New Zealand butter in China, ail of it packed in New Zealand, and it bears the stamp of the country of origin. It also hears the caption. 'Packed in New Zealand,' whereas most of the Australian butter that- comes to Shanghai is always packed in Shanghai by individual importers who put their own brands on it." As yet, said Mr. Hutchison, not a great deal of butter in proportion to the population was consumed in Shanghai, but the Chinese clerk, who received 100 dollars a month, equivalent to about £lO, was starting to use butter. The Chinese were not great eaters of cheese, but used quite a lot of tinned milk and milk powders.