onderful wealth in coal and in a good
supply of iron ore, two essentials to modern industrial
development. To indicate how little China has developed its
marvellous wealth in coal, this country imported, during 1917,
14,000,000 tons. It is estimated that China produces now
20,000,000 tons annually, but it is supposed to have richer
resources in coal than has the United States which, in 1918,
produced 650,000,000 tons. In iron ore it has been estimated that
China has 400,000,000 tons suitable for furnace reaction, and an
additional 300,000,000 tons which might be worked by native
methods. During 1917, it is estimated that China's production of
pig iron was 500,000 tons. The developments in the iron and steel
industry in China are making rapid strides, and a few years hence
it is expected that the production of pig iron and of finished
steel will be several millions of tons annually.... In antimony
and tin China is also particularly rich, and considerable
progress has taken place in the mining and smelting of these ores
during the past few years. China should jealously safeguard its
mineral wealth, so as to preserve it for the country's
welfare.[102]

The _China Year Book_ for 1919 gives the total Chinese production of
coal for 1914 as 6,315,735 tons, and of iron ore at 468,938 tons.[103]
Comparing these with Mr. Arnold's figures for 1917, namely 20,000,000
tons of coal and 500,000 tons of pig iron (not iron ore), it is evident
that great progress was made during those three years, and there is
every reason to think that at least the same rate of progress has been
maintained. The main problem for China, however, is not _rapid_
development, but _national_ development. Japan is poor in minerals, and
has set to work to acquire as much as possible of the mineral wealth of
China. This is important to Japan, for two different reasons: first,
that only industrial development can support the growing population,
which cannot be induced to emigrate to Japanese possessions on the
mainland; secondly, that steel is an indispensable requisite for
imperialism.

The Chinese are proud of the Kiangnan dock and engineering works at
Shanghai, which is a Government concern, and has proved its capacity for
shipbuilding on modern lines. It built four ships of 10,000 tons each
for the American Government. Mr. S.G. Cheng[104] says:--

For the c