| .. | .. | .. | 231| 309| 302| 422|
|Japan | 746| 1021| 1404| 1,909| 2,794| 9,197| 7,000|
+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+--------+

_Exports from China._ (000's omitted.)

+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+--------+
| Imports from |1875.|1880.|1885.| 1890.| 1895.| 1905.| 1908.|
+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+--------+
|United Kingdom |L6340|L6382|L6396|L6,357|L5,518|L1,971| L9,647|
|Hong-Kong | 8282| 8829| 9404|18,615|14,331|22,240| 20,033|
|India | 4451| 6039| 4306| 2,661| 2,753| 5,220| 4,066|
|Other British possessions| 396| 346| 542| 571| 732| 963| |
|United States | 304| 351| 884| 949| 827|11,538| 5,499|
|Continent of Europe | | | | | | | |
| (except Russia) | 230| 671| 671| 638| 1,227| 4,295|[B]3,332|
|Russian Empire | .. | .. | .. | 231| 309| 302| 422|
|Japan | 746| 1021| 1404| 1,909| 2,794| 9,197| 7,000|
+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+--------+

[B] Germany, France, Belgium and Italy only.

The chief imports are cotton goods, opium, rice and sugar, metals,
oil, coal and coke, woollen goods and raw cotton, and fish. Cotton
goods are by far the most important of the imports. They come chiefly
from the United Kingdom, which also exports to China woollen
manufactures, metals and machinery. China is next to India the
greatest consumer of Manchester goods. The export of plain cotton
cloths to China and Hong-Kong has for some years averaged 500,000,000
yds. per annum. The only competitor which Great Britain has in this
particular branch of trade is the United States of America, which has
been supplying China with increasing quantities of cotton goods. The
value in sterling of the total imports into China from the United
Kingdom long remained nearly constant, but inasmuch as the gold prices
were falling the volume of the export was in reality steadily growing.
The imports into England, however, of Chinese produce have fallen off,
mainly because China tea has been driven out of the English market by
the growth of the India and Ceylon tea trade, and also because the
bulk of the China silk is