Mr, Thomas Kennedy, Labour member for Kirkcaldy Burghs, drew attention to the record fall in the trade of the United Kingdom with China for the first six months of 1939. He asked if this could be attributed to tHe Japanese capture and isolation of Canton, Kongmoon and other Chinese ports, and if any action was being taken to counteract the effect of the occupation, Mr. Oliver Stanley, President of the Board of Trade, said he recognized that imports for the first six months totalled £76,000 less than the corresponding period last year. "Our exports and re-exports, however," he declared, "are slightly larger."
The British Government, Mr. Stanley added, would continue to watch the situation closely with a view to taking any appropriate step as might appear necessary and practicable to protect British trade with China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.