ABSTRACT
The equipment data substantiates the authors's conclusion that the cotton-spinning industries reached their pre-Communist peak output level during the 1930's. Therefore, even in the absence of national income statistics for the pre-1949 peak years, it is safe to conclude that China's modern industrial sector expanded relatively more quickly than the national product, at least up until the early 1940's. The increase in total railroad ton-mileage, as well as the indexes of tonnage of various types of goods shipped by railroad, is presented. An important part of the record of industrial production in pre-Communist China has been made more manageable, and a reasonably clear picture, in quantitative terms, of China's industrial development has emerged. In an article that appeared in 1958, Professor Alexander Eckstein made the following observation about the history of China's economic development, with particular reference to the role of the state.
