ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN SHANGHAI, PEIPING AND HUNAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A003600620010-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 5, 2005
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: March 4, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2005/12/05 : CIA-RDP80-00810A003600620010-3
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
CONFIDENTIAL
SUBJECT Economic and Sociological Conditions
in Shanghai, Peiping and Hiu.a.n
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
25X1)ATE OF INFO.
25X$LACE ACQUIRED
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L1 March 1954
3
D
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Shanghai
l~ As a result of a shortage, particularly in imported articles, the price of electrical
goods in Shanghai is high. For example, a 48-inch fluorescent lamp costs
JMP 250,000, while a fluorescent lamp made from an old lamp bulb with a coating of
fluorescent material might cost JMF 150,000. Chinese made elec-L;ric wiring costs
Jl 250,000 per coil, but because of the shortage of copper such wire is of poor
quality. In spite of this, however, the wire must be ordered and payment made
several months in advance before delivery is effected. As a result of this
shortage, second-hand foreign electric motors can command a high price on account
of the copper wire contained in them.
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3. Parents are at present experiencing great difficulty in getting their children into
schools. Preference is being given to the children of Communist cadres and of
Korean war veterans and school age children of merchant and middle class families
stand very little chance of gaining admission.: Last year about 60,000 children
graduated from primary schools only to find roughly 20,000 vacancies in government
and private middle schools, which number is no longer sufficient to accommodate
the increased influx. The, result has been that thousands of school children have
failed to secure a place in middle schools, and as they cannot return to their
respective primary schools, they are thus faced with a year or possibly more of
enforced vacation.. The same situation is said to exist in cities other than
Shanghai, notably Peiping.
4. Conditions in the villages around Shanghai are generally bad. Last Yearts crops
were really sufficient for only six months. Po ?k'is scarce and the normal fare
consists of two meals of pumpkin meal and watery rice. Soy beans are also scarce
and its price has been fixed at JMP 135,000 per picul. The black market price is
JMP 170,000. Bean curd shops are consequently ha,s'd pressed and in southern Kiangsu
90 percent of the bean-oil presses have had to close down.
(Note: Washington Distribution Indicated By "X"; Field Distribution By
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An indication on the state of business conditions In Shanghai is the prLevalenee of
second-hand shops there. The regi.s ;ration of unemployed has proved a failure.
Some 80 percent of the workers are finding it hard to make ends meet. The
average government employee receives approximately JNP )-00,000 - 500,000 per month.
if he lives in a hostel., he must pay ra-_,t, light and rates, and at the same time
provide his on food.
6. The present policy adopted by Shanghai banks appears to be to transfer its younger
employees to the Northeast and Northwest, and. at the same time to ask the elder
ones, as well as the sick and infirm and "those unwilling to face hard work", to
resign. Individual savings deposiats are down by about 50 percent compared with
last year. A drive to sell savings bonds, costing JNIP 40,000 each, failed badly..
The movement against the evasion of taxes and. du:ty.es was scheduled to come to an
end on 25 October. A considerable degree of success was achieved. Light
in.du.stries are enjoying a boom now. Such eo modit..es as fountain pens are finding
a good market in the USSR. Soviet products, such as printed cloth., powdered milk
and penicillin, have proved to be of poor quality. The powdered milk especially
is regarded as being inferior in every way to the brand produced in Shanghai.
7. A new scheme to force factories and shops to pay in advance their income tax
:?.s reported to be under consideration.,
T. e principal motive behind is s~ eme is to secure additional funds for economic
25X1 reconstruction. The usual tine for the annual payment of taxes is after the books
have been closed. The most ser:Lcu7 ,-;;ho_?tages in Shanghai are kerosene, sugar,
25X1 paper and cooking oil; o_ _v half a catty of cooking oil is allocated to each
individual. Wood is also in short supply, with the result that match sticks are
now shorter in length and match boxes reduced. in size.
Peiping
8. Passenger trains are ran according to s.cheduale, and the trains are clean, in order
and well maintained. The coach are wept every hour and clean bed linen
is provided in the sleeping Cars. The service on passenger trains is quite good.
Each train carries a me.lieal unit, whicch as often as not constitutes one young
girl who has nothing to offer of er than "Drags>n and Tiger Pills". Each car
carries roughly 120 passengers and is equipped with three fans which are usually
operated only when the train is standing in a station. All the larger railway
stations have clinics and.r?est houses for the use of railway workers. No charges
are made for the facilities provided. After working a shift of 24 hours or more,
a railway worker is entitled to a day off.
9. An express train consists of about 131 coachees, made up as follows:
1st class sleepers 3 coaches
2
2nd. 'rt it 2 it
1st carriages 1 it
2nd " " 6 (including a coach set aside for
children, and a smo%er)
Dining car 1
A broadcasting system is installed on the train for music and news broadcasts
during the trip. The Fe zing-Shanghai. express now takes 32 hours, as compared with
the 36 hours formerly required for the journey. Between Nanking and Puk' ou. ' (3184./
0656) the entire train except for the engine, is taken by ferry across the
Yangtze River. This operation takes two hours, during which time passengers must
remain in their seats or berths. All windows and doors are kept closed, and
railway guards are armed with. sub-machine guns; the stewards and waiters keep a
rigid watch.
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10? By order of the Gover.ent, Rsiangt'an (N 27..54.9 E 112-51) has been raised to the
status of a city because it is the birthplace of MAO Tse-tung.
U. The countryside around Is- ho (N 27-50, E 1,12-52) has suffered from a lack of rain-
fall. this summer, and in the op nion.. of the fa-rmers there the second crop of rice
is expected to be about 50 percent below average. As- Hunan is the principal rice
growing province of China, cons:i.dera;hle concern is felt about the coming harvest.
lsuho has no electric light supply, and people unable to afford Soviet kerosene
use tea seed. oil for their Janos
12. Because they were unable to replec:.i.sb. their stocks of watches from Shanghai or
Canton, the Watch Merchants Guild of Changsha (N 2_8i-12, E 112-59), applied. to the
Bureau of Industry and Commerce for : .. ort 1 cen.ses and foreign currency in order
to buy watches and spare parts Permission was granted, the articles
thus bought being allocated by the Watch Merchants Guild. to the watch dealers, who
anticipated making profits of 30 to 4.0 per_?ce:r~t. Because watch straps are being
marwfactuxed in Shanghai, the importation of the foreign made variety is forbidden.
The quality of the Chinese pr'odc~:ct :.s said. to be poor.
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