PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

Durin g the eve of the Manchu Régime ^[1] , the first spark of industrialization took place in China in the forms of various state and quasi-state enterprises; railways and steamship lines, iron and steel works and coal mines, arsenals and docks all began to bedeck the Empire but they were soon found toiling under a corrupt and decadent political system. Then came the 1911 Revolution with its almost immediate reverses in the hands of Yuan Shi-kai and his military satellites. It has taken the Kuomintang fully seventeen years to wipe out these reactionaries and establish its undisputed political authority over the whole country. Although much to the sacrifice of our economic progress, we have, in these long years of bitter struggles, achieved a great political revolution; and a new, healthy political order is necessary for proper economic development.

How would Nationalist China carry out her program of economic reconstruction and development? This is necessarily a question of world interest.

In 1921 my father, the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen, wrote this "International Development of China." It was then his desire that international capital should come to China to develop railroads and highways, river conservancy and irrigation, new ports and modern cities, basic industries and public utilities.

The nature of the whole plan, in the words of my father, is a "rough sketch—from a layman's thought with very limited materials at his disposal; alterations and changes will have to be made after scientific in-vestigations and detailed survey." It shows the stupendous requirements to modernize China. It will be the acme of economic rationalization when fully carried out. In its policies of reconstruction and economic development, the Nationalist Government will essentially follow this plan as its supreme guidance.

Naturally, working schedules will have to be carefully mapped out in order of the importance and urgency of these different projects. As means of communication are a prime mover to drag a country out of its economic stagnation, construction of sufficient trunk lines of railways with highways serving as their feeders should engage our serious attention at present. In my father's plan, seven great systems of railways are to traverse the whole of China. As North China is comparatively better served with railways at present than South China, special preference should be given to regions in the latter, especially to those places where even proper means of water transportation are lacking. In this respect, some trunk lines of the Southwestern System, which is to cover Kwangsi, Kweichow, Yunnan, southeastern Szechuen, southwestern Hunan and the western half of Kwangtung, should be constructed to tap the rich mineral resources in these regions and to provide rapid means of transport in place of the present tedious travel requiring weeks to reach these inner provinces. Turning back to the north, the Northwestern System is all important to open up Mongolia and Sinkiang and to release the population pressure in China Proper by colonization of these grazing lands and irrigable tracts. As to the existing railways, the completion of the unfinished section of the Canton-Hankow Line and the extension of the Lunghai Line to Lanchow should merit special attention.

Then the improvement of the present telegraph system and the extensive introduction of long-distance telephones and wireless service should contribute much in promoting greater efficiency and stronger unity of the national life. Some of the projects have the great advantage of being immediately very profitable.

Concerning other parts of my father's plan, that which will directly help agriculture and promote industry should form the complement to the communication program and should be as equally urgent. River conservancy and land irrigation to add more acreage to agriculture, better mobilization of coal resources and proper harnessing of water power to provide cheap motive power for industry; these are the agencies through which national production will be stimulated and increased. Past studies have shown the Hwaiho regulation and Sikiang regulation to be immensely profitable. Possibilities of the North River of Kwangtung for hydroelectric development have also been carefully studied and found to be very attractive. Incidentally, increased national production means greater purchasing power, and that in turn means bigger international trade.

Enough have been mentioned to indicate the vast opportunities of profitable investment. To show our readiness to accept foreign capital upon equitable and businesslike terms, we can do no better than to refer again to the words of my father. He tells us that "the Chinese people will welcome the development of our country's resources provided that it can be kept out of Mandarin corruption and ensure the mutual benefit of China and the countries cooperating with us." He further says that "international cooperation of this kind cannot but help to strengthen the Brotherhood of Man." For the realization of the worthy objects of such financing, all necessary safeguards will be granted to the lenders, who should provide us with "organizers, administrators and experts." In other words, we welcome sound business arrangements.