Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Trade (II)
Section 2: Foreign Trade. I. Foreign Firm Trade. After the Opium War, merchants from Europe and America came to Xiangxi, setting up firms engaged in international trade. These firms, also called 'foreign hongs,' mainly exchanged foreign goods such as kerosene, flour, cloth, nails and soda for Xiangxi's local products including tung oil, tea, raw lacquer, cinnabar and mercury, especially tung...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section 2 Foreign Trade
I. Foreign Firm Transactions
After the Opium War, merchants from European and American countries entered Xiangxi one after another, setting up trading firms and engaging in international trade. Trading firms engaged in international trade, also known as "foreign firms," mainly exchanged foreign goods such as kerosene, foreign flour, foreign cloth, foreign nails and foreign soda for Xiangxi's local products such as tung oil, tea, raw lacquer, cinnabar and mercury, with tung oil being the most renowned.
According to "A Survey of Tung Oil Production and Marketing in Xiangxi During the War of Resistance" by Zhang Zhenshen, a former teacher at the National Commercial College: "Tung oil is a specialty of our country. The quantity exported over the years has consistently been over one million dan, occupying an important position in international trade. According to customs statistics, Xiangxi tung oil accounted for 4.9% of total export value, ranking sixth in the nation. In the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935), it increased to 73,379,000 yuan, accounting for 10.4% of total export value, leaping to first place in the nation. After the War of Resistance began, much territory was lost, exports dropped greatly, and tung oil became our country's most important export commodity, with the government even imposing controls on it." "According to statistics from the Hunan Economic Research Institute, Hunan Province's tung oil output was approximately 600,000 dan," and "the total tung oil output of the 21 counties of Xiangxi was 420,500 dan, accounting for over 70% of the province's total output. The importance of Xiangxi tung oil is evident from this." The survey report also stated: "Tung oil exports were mostly handled by foreign merchants themselves or by agents entrusted by foreign merchants. Xiangxi tung oil exports were mostly operated by American merchants, with the Changde Shimei Foreign Firm being the largest, which had an oil refinery that processed and refined purchased crude oil, and its oil storage tanks could hold as much as a thousand tons of refined or crude oil; the Shengli Foreign Firm was next. There were also more than ten Chinese merchants acting as agents for foreign firms. Among foreign-market tung oil operations, the largest was operated by the Foreign Trade Department of the Juxingcheng Bank, and there were also three or four firms entrusted by foreign merchants." At that time, the main tung oil collection and distribution centers in the 10 counties of the prefecture included Pushi, Luxi, Suoli (present-day Jishou), Wangcun, Yongshun, Baojing, Yongsui (present-day Huayuan), Chadong, Sangzhi and Dayong (present-day Yongding District of Zhangjiajie City).
Wangcun was historically a tung oil collection and distribution market. During the peak period, the Wangcun tycoon Huang Youcheng claimed, "I have 100,000 silver dollars in hand and 4,000 barrels of tung oil on the river." During the War of Resistance, Wangcun had 12 tycoons, known as the "Four Sheng" (Yusheng, Dasheng, Chuansheng, Rongsheng) and the "Eight Great Firms" (Huang Youcheng, Zhang Yongfa, Shunji, Tongchangshun, Yang Hongsheng, Zhang Yihe, Peng Yifeng, Deji). They all did business with foreign firms, selling collected tung oil and other local products to Changde's "Yirui Foreign Firm," "Qilai Foreign Firm" and "Anliying Foreign Firm"; the daily industrial goods they purchased were also mostly procured from these foreign firms and their comprador businesses. These tycoons were in effect "agent warehouses" set up by foreign firms in Wangcun to purchase tung oil and local products from Yongshun, Baojing, Guzhang and other places and to dump foreign firms' industrial goods.
After eight years of the War of Resistance, three years of civil war broke out. Bandits ran rampant in Xiangxi, fields lay waste, markets were depressed, and tung oil exports increasingly shrank. The Wangcun tycoon Huang Youcheng was extorted to death through collusion between officials and bandits. In March 1949, during the "Xiangxi Incident," bandits looted Yuanling, Pushi and Wangcun. Wealthy merchants went bankrupt one after another, and foreign firm export trade came to an end.
II. State Monopoly of Foreign Trade
With the victory of the people's democratic revolution, the aggressive forces and various privileges of Western countries in China were thoroughly eliminated, imperialist enterprises were taken over, bureaucratic capital was confiscated, the customs long occupied by imperialism were recovered, and a state monopoly of foreign trade was implemented, meaning foreign trade was uniformly led, controlled and regulated by the state. In 1956, after the socialist transformation of the ownership of the means of production was basically completed, foreign trade throughout the country was uniformly led and managed by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and uniformly operated by the various specialized national foreign trade corporations. Due to the blockade and embargo by the United States, the export volume of tung oil and local products from the prefecture was very small. In 1961, the total value of foreign trade procurement was only 1.4586 million yuan, 2.945 million yuan in 1965, and dropped to 1.4895 million yuan in 1967.
In 1974, in response to the situation that the foreign trade management system at the time could not meet the needs of economic development, the Ministry of Foreign Trade began to study and reform the foreign trade system. This reform promoted the development of foreign trade in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. In 1975, the total value of foreign trade procurement increased to 3.7579 million yuan, and further to 9.492 million yuan in 1980. In 1983, the total value of export commodity purchases reached 11 million yuan, accounting for 1.19% of the total value of industrial and agricultural production. There were 85 kinds of export commodities successively, but most were agricultural and sideline local products such as tung oil, tea, ramie, raw lacquer, yellow cattle and goats. Traditional export mineral products included only cinnabar and mercury. In the early 1980s, newly developed export products that earned foreign exchange included: electrolytic manganese metal, barite powder, ferrosilicon alloy, silicomanganese alloy, high-quality zinc oxide, zinc ingots, aluminum ingots, marble, white cement, talc, purple clay pottery, water-flushed stone inkstones and other products.
During the planned economy period, although foreign trade developed, the gap compared with other regions in the province was still very large. Some traditional products lost their traditional advantages, and newly developed commodities had not yet become competitive mainstays. For example, the traditional product tung oil once exported 855 tons in 1960 and was a major export commodity at the time. Thereafter its quality declined year by year, the golden tung oil lost its former glory, and exports eventually stopped. Xiangxi yellow cattle is one of the fine breeds of cattle in the country and was also a traditional export product of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. In 1982, 5,305 head were exported, but thereafter the number decreased year by year, mainly due to weak breeding efforts, breed degeneration, declining output and smaller body size, with live cattle exports dropping to 1,200 head.
III. Expanding Opening-Up
In October 1984, after Hunan Province's first foreign economic and technical cooperation negotiation conference, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture established the Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission to strengthen leadership over foreign economic relations and trade and to exercise unified management over the prefecture's foreign economic relations and trade work. Cadres and staff throughout the prefecture's foreign economic and trade system earnestly renewed their concepts, deepened reform, expanded opening-up, and, in accordance with the needs of the international market, expanded the purchase of export commodities, successively establishing 15 export commodity production bases. In 1987, the total value of foreign trade purchases in the 10 counties and cities of the prefecture reached 42.04 million yuan, an increase of 2.82 times over 1983.
In July 1988, upon application by the People's Government of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture and with approval from the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Company was formally established, enjoying the right to import and export, and began to engage in self-operated import and export business. In 1989, the total export commodity value of the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture was 77.15 million yuan, with exports accounting for 5.23% of the prefecture's total industrial and agricultural output value. Export commodities increased from the original 36 kinds to 80 kinds, of which industrial and mineral products accounted for 66% of total exports. Annual output of electrolytic manganese metal reached 8,000 tons, becoming the prefecture's leading export product. That year, self-operated exports reached 1.01 million US dollars, self-operated imports 460,000 US dollars, and export commodities were sold to 11 countries and regions, with over 1,100 tons of citrus shipped directly to the Soviet Union. In 1990, beef exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe reached 1,360 tons, and citrus 1,200 tons. Thereafter, adhering to the guiding ideology of "grand foreign economic relations and grand foreign trade," foreign economic relations and trade were actively developed. Export commodities shifted from being mainly primary agricultural and sideline products to mainly manufactured industrial products, forming an export pattern dominated by manganese products, phosphorus products, pharmaceutical products and ferroalloys. In 1995, the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture supplied 120 million yuan in exports and earned 6.226 million yuan in foreign exchange through self-operated exports. However, many foreign trade enterprises were poorly managed, suffered very serious losses, and even became insolvent.
Since 1996, the State Council successively introduced relevant foreign trade policies such as the comprehensive unification of foreign exchange management and the reduction of export tax rebates, pushing foreign trade enterprises fully into the market; at the same time, the policy granting production enterprises the right to self-operated import and export was relaxed, allowing them to participate directly in international competition. Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture seized the opportunity, faced difficulties head-on, established the concept of grand foreign trade and grand exports, focused on cultivating new growth points for export foreign exchange earnings, helped 29 enterprises obtain self-operated import and export rights and 2 enterprises obtain the right to supply Hong Kong, focused on key enterprises such as Dongfang Manganese Industry Group, Zhenxing Chemical Plant and Xiyang Food Industry Group, highlighted key export commodities such as electrolytic manganese and frozen pork, implemented a famous-brand export strategy, and successively created famous brand trademarks such as "Dongfang" electrolytic manganese, "Xiyang" preserved eggs, "Xiangquan Liquor" and "Jiugui Liquor," stabilized key markets such as Hong Kong, Japan and Germany, and ensured sustained growth of the prefecture's export foreign exchange earnings. In 2000, the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture achieved 45.06 million US dollars in self-operated export foreign exchange earnings. Foreign trade developed at an extraordinary pace, rising from 13th place among Hunan Province's prefectures and cities to 5th place. Among this, export foreign exchange earnings by production enterprises accounted for over 90% of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture's total exports. At the same time, multiple measures were taken to revitalize foreign trade enterprises, mainly by deepening reform and establishing a modern enterprise system; guiding foreign trade enterprises onto the path of internationalization, large-scale operation and industrialization; and strengthening enterprise management to achieve the goals of efficiency, foreign exchange earnings and profit. In 1999, 8 operating foreign trade enterprises achieved a total profit of 1 million yuan, realizing the first net profit for operating foreign trade enterprises in 10 years.
IV. Going Global
Entering the new century, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture seized the opportunity of China's accession to the World Trade Organization, followed the trend of economic globalization, established the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Foreign Trade Cooperation Bureau (Investment Promotion and Cooperation Bureau), transformed its functions, strengthened macro-control, and promoted the rapid development of foreign trade.
In 2001, the number of enterprises obtaining self-operated import and export rights increased to 41, with 26 enterprises having actual import and export performance. The number of import and export destination countries increased to 19, distributed across countries and regions in Asia, Europe and the Americas. That year, 13 million yuan was secured from the national fund for promoting foreign economic and trade development in the western region, 2.3 million yuan from the international market development fund for small and medium-sized enterprises, 2.11 million yuan in export interest subsidies was paid out, and 41.35 million yuan in export tax rebates was granted. International maritime container transport was smoothly launched at Jishou Railway Station, and the foreign trade operating environment of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was greatly improved. At the same time, innovation was promoted in foreign trade operating entities, commodity structure, trade methods and trade channels, and high-tech product enterprises and collective and private enterprise exports were cultivated. The development pattern of grand foreign trade and a diversified export market pattern were basically formed.
In 2002, due to the sharp decline in international markets for major export products, most of the prefecture's major export enterprises were shut down for long periods, and the situation for export foreign exchange earnings was extremely severe. To reverse the unfavorable situation, the People's Government of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture increased support, strengthened services, and vigorously pursued foreign trade export work. Focusing on securing export policies such as export tax rebates, export interest subsidies, western region promotion funds and market development funds, it secured a cumulative total of 10.56 million yuan and ensured the timely allocation of 13 million yuan in western region promotion funds, promoting the stable development of the prefecture's import and export business. The total import and export value for the year reached 70.19 million US dollars, of which exports were 69.3 million US dollars.
In 2004, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture's foreign trade exports achieved a historic breakthrough, powerfully driving the growth of the national economy. The 8 counties and cities of the prefecture completed a total foreign trade import and export value of 150 million US dollars, of which exports were 149 million US dollars and imports 980,000 US dollars, increases of 68.9%, 68.1% and 405% respectively over the previous year, with all indicator growth rates higher than the provincial average. In particular, exports exceeded the 100 million US dollar mark for the first time since the launch of self-operated foreign trade import and export in 1989, placing it among the 6 prefectures and cities in Hunan Province with exports exceeding 100 million US dollars, and its export performance steadily ranked fifth among Hunan Province's 14 prefectures and cities. 57 foreign trade export enterprises received 109.61 million yuan in export tax rebates, accounting for 11.3% of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture's fiscal revenue. After deducting 9.59 million yuan borne by local finance, this actually secured 100.02 million yuan in central government financial support for Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, accounting for 10.3% of the prefecture's fiscal revenue. Huayuan and Baojing counties increased their foreign trade efforts and vigorously developed an export-oriented economy. In 2004, Huayuan County earned 42.19 million US dollars in export foreign exchange, and Baojing County earned 21.31 million US dollars, and they were designated by the Hunan Provincial Government as two of the province's top ten base counties and cities for export foreign exchange earnings. Export foreign exchange earnings played a huge role in driving the economy. Relying on industrial export foreign exchange earnings, Huayuan County vigorously developed mineral product processing and exports. In 2004, the county's per capita export foreign exchange earnings reached 160 US dollars, and its GDP reached 1.048 billion yuan, an increase of 42.8% over 2003. Its economic growth rate leaped into the ranks of the nation's top 100, ranking 27th in the country.
In 2005, under the circumstances of strengthened national macro-control, the cancellation of export tax rebates and the adjustment of the RMB exchange rate, the commerce department of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture responded actively, adjusted production and operations, and maintained sustained and stable development of foreign trade. The 8 counties and cities of the prefecture had 105 enterprises with self-operated import and export rights, with 12 newly added. There were 30 enterprises with import and export performance, completing a cumulative total import and export value of 156 million US dollars, an increase of 3.76% over the previous year, of which exports were 154 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.86%; imports were 2.36 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 140.8%, with the growth rate ranking second in Hunan Province. The prefecture's cumulative trade surplus was 151 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2%. That year, Jishou City's foreign trade export growth rate reached 12%, and together with Huayuan County it was listed among the "2005 Top Ten Counties (Cities) for Foreign Trade Exports in Hunan Province." In the same year, private enterprise exports were strong, with private enterprises exporting 83.53 million US dollars for the year, accounting for 54% of the prefecture's total export value, a year-on-year increase of 40%. Private enterprise exports already accounted for half of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture's export trade. At the same time, import trade grew substantially, and the import of manganese oxide ore from abroad became a new highlight in Hunan Province's foreign trade operations. While Hunan Province's imports declined by 3.52% overall, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture ranked second in the province with an import growth rate of 140.8%.