TRADE WITH CHINA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20899, 13 December 1929, Page 10

TRADE WITH CHINA.

FULL OF PITFALLS. PRESTIGE OF THE FOREIGN ZONE. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, December 12. “The prestige of the foreigner in China has gone to pieces and the Chinese disregard contracts without the slightest concern,” said Mr E. S. Little, formerly Australian Trade Commissioner in the East and a resident of China for 44 years, in an address at a luncheon of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. “Trade with China is full of pitfall* and there is no easy road to wealth, although the trade is potentially enormous and there is room for many New Zealand products.” Mr Little said he had been intensely pro-Chinese until the recent revolution. “ I then became bitterly anti-Nationalist as I was satisfied the revolution waa aimed at the British Empire,” he said. “I knew Sun Yat Sen for many year* and the Chinese Minister of Finance told me they hoped to spread the revolution to India. With Chinese soldiers ou Indian soil the Russian Communist* would have complete control. Mr Little said that China’s foreign trade last year amounted to £370,000,000. The Chinese required everything that civilised people could want. War never upset trade in China and every year the trade figures were higher. jVtaiding the_ country one had to be equipped with silver and scales as all the purchasing was done in silver. “China canVpot feed herself, but in seeking trade there one must be very cautious,” Mr Little, said. “I warn you against trading ‘ direct with the Chinese unless you are v safeguarded. You have to be most ‘ particular about packing or you will have all sorts of claims for damaged merchandise. The saying that the word of a Chinese is as good as his bond is a fallacy. His bond is worth nothing. There is no power by which you can enforce contracts in China. Evevv examiner can be got at for a few dollar* and he will pass anything you like.”