Forme tnvestoents 1 Cin the University of Minemilian Coy New 'The publication of the results of Professor Remer's research must have been awaited with keen {terest by many of those who came Hata contact. with him during' the course of his inquiries not only the Far East but-also in Europe and Winerica, "The scape of, thowe.n-Mnersiand. his feelings when he ries, indeed, makes it easy to writes in. his preface: "The fact That the work could be done at all seems, to me, in looking back over the four'. years, something triumph.
The tile of the volume, one feels, scarcely does justice to its contents, for it gives no. indication of the many' involved questions "mot, commonly associated with the subject of Jnvestments that will be found! courageously tackled by, Professor! Romer in Part 1 of th can Imagine what tact and lance "must have been necessary at times in securing from business representatives of different. nationali-fies in China the data necessary for the completion of some of Professor Kemer's estimates.
The question which it is the purpose of Professor Remer's enquiry to "answer was formulated at a meet~ ing called together by the. Social Science Research Council in New! 1928, "and was as the international Anancial position country? result of the Bapan-and the United States, and ata later stage in other countries well. Preliminary results of the partial studies were made available At the successive conferences of the Institute of Pacific Relations. The whole of the collected material was: eventually brought together at Ann Arbor in the autumn of 1981, and] there the general analysis of the! material was undertaken. and_ the new estimates of China's balance of international" payments for the periods 1902-1013 and 1914-1930, for the years 1928, 1920 and 190, were compiled. By' the end the: summer of 1992 the chapters, of Part T, dealing with "Foreign Investments and China's. Internation Economic and Financial Position,' took their final form, Paxt I con-rusts of individual "studies of the investment in China of the principal foreign countries concerned, While acknowledging his indebtedness "to others, Professor Romer does not hesitate to accept responsibility for the material inthe form in. which it is now published, Indeed, the expression of a personal view based fon. wide ce-operation in. research probably makes the present volume Father more interesting and stimulating to the reader than it would have been if it had had to pass through the winnowing process committee draftsmanship.
Tt, will, of course, be readily appreciated' that this fs not a book to skimmed through and then ist aside, The contents are too Valuable for that. All those who are closely concerned with the financial spect of economic development in China will find here considerable material worthy of serious study. Incidentally, in the process it may happen that certain pre-conceived notions, of wide™ acceptance but doubtful origin, may be abandoned.
is, moreover, to be hoped that take advantage' of the help which Profesior Remer's book provides in the practical. effects. of jovernment policy in the ast the matter of foreign loans: methods, The new ideas and methods Require education, the egntinued study cfChina'e economic problems by. moh s'pactical turn of mind, leade Soportonity for" improvement, a ship Which wil ete "ape erty foreign capital which must be Used ith the wines. ceon Since September, 1981, the affairs of Ching have been frequently i the Timelight, and the discussions a Geneva have at times. raised. the Jquestion of the underlying prin~ iples which should, or do, determine the attitude towards China principal world powers. It is, accordingly, of interest to compare the financial stake which, estimated, various foreign countries have in China The following are Professor Remer's figures, in mi Tons of U. 8. della 2 19M 3881 7S 1,189.2
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Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.