In 1928 the Chinese Ministry of the Interior promulgated a series of regulations intended to take over the population census: due, however, to the Japanese occupation of the northern provinces, the area in which these preliminary census operations were carried out was necessarily limited to a few provinces only. The system followed was that of counting by families (pao chia); with the end of the war against Japan, operations could not be resumed due to hostilities between nationalists and communists. In January 1946 the census law was enacted and in February 1947 the provision establishing the general census for all of China, to be held in 1950, was approved by the Legislative Yuan.
According to Youremailverifier, the most recent statistics published by the Census Department of the Ministry of the Interior are necessarily approximate and limited to only two thirds of the Chinese territory. For 1947 two statistics were published which differ considerably from each other: according to the first (February 1947), the Chinese population would amount to 455,900,648 residents, while according to the latest data published in the second half of 1947 it would amount to 462,798,093 residents. These data include, besides China proper, Manchuria, Liao-tung, Formosa, Jehol and Tibet. This population is made up of almost all Chinese, with a small minority of other peoples. There were 8.7 million Chinese abroad in 1936, of which 2.5 in Thailand, 2.3 in Malaysia, 1.3 in the Dutch Indies.
New territories. – Following the Second World War, Japan, based on the agreements of Cairo and Yalta, will have to cede Manchuria, Formosa with the Pescadores islands and the Liao-tung peninsula to China: pending the peace treaty, all these territories are already passed under the Chinese administration.
Economic statistics. – In the south, warmer and more humid, the prevailing crop is rice (with 18 million hectares and 470 million q. In 1940-41), whose export is prohibited; in the north, on the other hand, wheat dominates (17-20 million hectares and 150-200 million q. per year). Also widespread in the south are tea (4-500 million kg. Per year), tobacco (5-550.000 ha. And 5-7 million q.) And cotton (8-12 million q. Of fiber and 15-20 of seed). Other minor but profitable crops are maize (4-5 million ha. And 60-80 million q. Per year), sesame, peanut, sugar cane, ramie. Breeding (approximate figures in millions of heads): pigs, 62.5; cattle, 22.5; goats, 22.0; sheep, 21.0; buffaloes, 12.0; domestic birds, more than 300. Sericulture is important, but not as important as it could be (80-85 million kg of cocoons per year). For subsoil products, the following figures are official estimates for 1947: coal, 7.4 million tonnes; naphtha, 10 million gallons; tungsten (mineral), 7,500 tons: antimony, 5,000 tons; copper, 2,300 tons; tin, 26,000 tons; lead, 660 tons; aluminum, 4,200 tons; gold, 390.6 kg .; silver, 3.125 kg.
Industries in China have always been inadequate to the country’s needs and existing resources. Before the war, industries were concentrated in the east, particularly in southern Manchuria, Ho-pei and Shan-tung. Under the pressure of the Japanese invasion, the national government tried to move the machinery of 150 factories en masse west with the help of primitive transports, even with ox-drawn carts. Other new factories sprang up, especially in the vicinity of Ch’ung-k’ing, with which it was possible to provide in the most difficult conditions to produce light weapons, textiles, chemicals, etc. with the help of industrial cooperatives. After the war, Chinese industrial activity shows little recovery and requires large developments to meet national needs. using the immense riches of the subsoil and the vast availability of manpower. In fact, it is estimated that the coal reserves exceed 10 billion tons, those of iron ores a billion, while only about thirty blast furnaces are in operation.
The cotton mill has about 5.6 million spindles and 58,000 looms, about half in Shanghai alone, the rest largely in Tsing-tao; the steel industry produced 99,000 tons. of crude iron and 106,000 t. of steel in 1947 (official estimates). Other official estimates for industrial production in 1947: cement, 340,000 tons; caustic soda, 31,000 tons; sugar, 100,000 tons; paper, 27,000 tons; fertilizers, 57,000 t.
Foreign exchanges in 1946 amounted to 1,501,165 million Chinese dollars for imports and 412,111 for exports.
Railways (1938): about 19,000 km. in its own China alone, where a vast network expansion plan is being implemented.
