§ MR. C. E. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether Her Majesty's Government have decided to appoint a Commercial Attaché at the Court of Pekin; and what steps have been taken, if any, to obtain for British trade full advantage of the concessions lately made by the Chinese Government in opening new ports to the various Treaty Nations?
MR. CURZONIt is not at present the intention of Her Majesty's Government to appoint a Commercial Attaché at Pekin. They are awaiting the report upon the state of British trade in the East, which will be presented to them by Mr. Brennan, Her Majesty's Consul at Canton, whom they have instructed to visit all the Treaty Ports of China, Corea, and Japan. Provision has already been made for British Consular representation at all the new Treaty Ports as soon as they are opened.