XII. Provinces of Yünnan, Kweichow, and Ssuchuan. The right to extend the Burmah system into China as far as the Yang-tsze is admitted, and surveys are now in progress. This involves a possible railway of 700 miles. See Remarks on French Concessions. CHINA: "Concessions other than British. Russian. The Manchurian Railway Concession dates from 1896. As is well known, it was obtained as recompense for help given in securing the retrocession of Liaotung. From Stretensk on the Shilka, where it leaves the main Siberian line, this railway will cross the Argun and Hingan Mountains, and reach Kirin viâ Petuna. The whole length from Stretensk to Vladivostock is estimated at 1,400 miles, of which about 1,000 will pass through Chinese territory. The Concession is purely strategical. The country traversed, though potentially rich, in great part is, and will be for long, sparsely populated, and the line cannot, in the near future at any rate, hope to pay its working expenses. 2. The Port Arthur Agreement of March 1898 arranges for the conclusion by Russia of a branch from the above line to Port Arthur or Talienwan. The length of the railway will be about 400 miles. Commercially, this branch is more promising than the first Concession. 3. The Russo-Chinese Bank has signed a contract for the construction of a branch line from T'ai-yüan Fu to connect with the Lu-Han trunk lines near Chêng-tung. Length, approximately 130 miles. They have, up to date, been unable to raise money for this line. I think it very possible that it will eventually be built by an Anglo-Russian Syndicate. I am trying to arrange this. "French.—The French possess the right to construct three lines, but beyond acquiring this right they have done nothing. 1. From Tonquin up the Red River Valley to Yünnan Fu, say 200 miles. The impression in French railway circles is that a railway through Yünnan will not pay expenses, and if any serious attempt is made to carry out the extension of the Tonquin system, it will be merely as a stepping-stone to Ssü-ch'uan. Yet again, any pretensions that a railway from Yünnan to the Yang-tsze may have to rank as a commercial project have been pronounced against by every traveller in Central China. 2. Langson-Lungchow-Nanning Railway; length, about 100 miles. (There appears to be an alternative open to the French of going to Pésé instead of Nanning.) The right to build this line has been conceded, but the idea is growing amongst the French of Tonquin that, instead of diverting traffic from the West River, a line from Langson to Lungchow and Nanning would prove an additional feeder of the West River route.