China used to be an important market for Burma rice. In the five years before the war she took an average of 300,000 tons. For the seven years 1622-28 the average was only 145,000 tons. For the next four years it rose to 850,000 tons, owing to bad harvests In China, but in 19: the gute was only '220,000 and in 1934-35 170,000 tons and in 1036. only 70,000 tons was sent to China of exchange has probably had much effect in recent years, but the most important cause is probably the condition of the local crops in China, Agricultural statistics of China are $0 unreliable and disasters of the. Aitst magnitude may come with, 30 Uttle warning that it 1s quite impossible to know from year to year how much imported rice China is Ukely to need, and Burma cannot Jock upon her as a stable market, Also Indo-China and Slam, ularly the former, have great vantage in freights over Burm it ts natural that they should be China's rst sources of supply. At the same time, a market which is capable of taking up to 500,000. tons, in years of famine, and which seldom" fakes Jess than 150,000 tons cannot neglected, and it Is to be hoped that China will not forget that Burma holds the biggest exportable surplus the world of her main staple food, and that no unnecessary restrictions will be placed on the trade,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.