§ MR. DRAGE (Derby)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state what are the latest figures in the possession of the Board with regard to the value of the total British trade with China; and whether he can further state what is the value of the trade of China with the United Kingdom, with the Colonies, and India respectively.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. RITCHIE,) CroydonAccording to the Chinese returns of trade the value of the trade of China with the British Empire in 1899 was £43,084,000. The division of this amount into trade with the United Kingdom, India, and the Colonies cannot be accurately made, because more than one-half of the total is entered as trade with Hong Kong, and the ultimate destination of this trade cannot be stated. The Chinese returns show the value of the direct trade with the United Kingdom to be £8,147,000, with British India £5,064,000, with other British colonies and possessions (excluding Hong Kong) £1,283,000, and with Hong Kong £28,590,000. Of course, a certain part of the last mentioned amount is destined for countries outside the British Empire.