ELECTRIC POWER IN CHINA PROPER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-01093A000700080001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 117
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 10, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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ase 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01093A000700080001-3
PROVISIONAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT
ELECTRIC POWER IN CHINA PROPER
CIA/RR PR-86
10 November 1954 DOCUMENT NO.
.N
CHANGE IN CLASS. Q
O
^ DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANCED TO: T
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTHIR 7
DATE:
REVIEWER: 006,_.>...14>.-
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND REPORTS
US OFFICIALS ONLY
I
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WARNING
This material contains i.nthrmation affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
* fission or revelation of which in any manner
o an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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CONFIDENTIAL
CIA/RR PR-86
(ORR Project 27.202)
NOTICE
The data and conclusions contained in this report
do not necessarily represent the final position of
ORR and should be regarded as provisional only and
subject to revision. Comments and data which may
be available to the user are solicited.
Office of Research and Reports
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CONFIDENTIAL
This report is the second of two studies of the electric power
industry in Communist China. CIA/RR PR-39, The Electric Power
Industry in Manchuria, 27 November 1953, SECRET, was concerned pri-
marily with that area of Communist China north of the Great Wall,
historically known as Manchuria. The present report covers the area
south of the Great Wall. The term China proper is used as a con-
venient and clarifying designation for that area.
This report presents accurate information about present capacity
of electric power facilities in China proper and firmly based
estimates of possible expansion. Estimates of total production of
electric power, however, are subject to some margin of error, and
the production data given should be used with considerable care.
Although detailed research for this report was concluded on 15
April 195+, data which have become available between that time and
the completion of writing have been considered and used when
applicable.
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CONF AL
CONTENTS
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I. Introduction" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
B. History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
C. Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
II. Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A. Coal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B. Hydroelectric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
III. Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
A. Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. Geographical Distribution . . . . . . . . 11
2. Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3. Type of Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4. Size of Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
B. Transmission Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
C. Lack of Standardization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
IV. Capacity and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
V. Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
A. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
B. Shanghai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
C. Tientsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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VI. Input Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
A. Coal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
B. Parts and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
C. Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2. Technical Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
VII. Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A. Domestic Manufacture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
B. Imported Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1. USSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2. Other Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
C. Planned Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
VIII. Capabilities, Vulnerabilities, and Intentions . . . . . . 34
A. Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
B. Vulnerabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
C. Intentions 35
Appendixes
Appendix A. Tabulation of Electric Power Plants in China
Proper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Appendix B. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Appendix C. Gaps in Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Appendix D. Sources and Evaluation of Sources . . . . . . 121
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Tables Page
1. Distribution of Electric Power Plants in China Proper . . 13
2. Size Range of Electric Power Plants in China Proper,
1953 .......................... 16
3. Estimated Capacity and Output of Electric Power Plants
in China Proper, 1951-57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4. Electric Power Plants in China Proper . . . . . . . . . . 39
5. Detailed Estimate of the Capacity and Output of Electric
Power Plants in China Proper, 1951-57 . . . . . . . . . 109
6. Output of Electric Power in Communist China, 1949-54 . . ill
China: Electric Power Stations . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
C IA/RR PR-86 C'=1 -E T
(ORR Project 27.202)
ELECTRIC POWER IN CHINA PROPER*
Summary
The industrial development of Communist China is dependent upon
the development of the electric power industry. Under existing
technology, electricity is the only economically feasible source of
power for industry in Communist China.
In 1953 the installed electric generating capacity of that area
of Communist China designated as China proper** was 1.3 million
kilowatts (kw), about equal to that of the State of Arizona. The
population of China proper is about 500 times greater than the pop-
ulation of Arizona. The per capita use of electricity in China
proper in 1953 was about one-seventh of the per capita use of elec-
tricity in the US in 1902.
Although the electric power industry in China proper is relative-
ly undeveloped, the potential -- in terms of resources -- is great.
Coal reserves in China proper are estimated at 262 billion metric
tons. *** About 25 million tons were mined in 1953, and only 4+.4+
million tons were used in the electric power industry. The Chinese
Communists claim to have a hydroelectric potential second in the
world only to that of the USSR, and they declare that there is a year-
round potential of 70 million kw. This annual potential alone is 50
times greater than the total capacity of all electric plants now
existing in China proper.
About one-fourth of the total electric power generating capacity
of China proper is located in Shanghai (Shang-hai). Because of
comparative costs, almost all of the facilities in China proper are
steam powered, and more than one-third of the total capacity is in
plants of less than 10,000-kw capacity. These small plants were
* The estimates and conclusions contained in this report represent
the best judgment of the responsible analyst as of 23 September 1954.
** See the map, China: Electric Power Stations, inside back cover.
*** Throughout this report tonnages are given in metric tons.
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comparatively more costly to build, and they are considerably more
costly to operate. Only one significant transmission line exists
in China proper. It connects Peiping (Pei-p'ing), Tientsin
(T'ien-thing), and Tang-span.
The governmental apparatus which controls the electric power
facilities in Communist China is the Electric Power Industry Bureau,
subordinate to the Ministry of Fuel Industry, which is one of the
six top-level industrial ministries.
Available data do not permit the determination of a definite
consumption pattern for electric power in China proper. Because pro-
duction facilities are largely localized, allocations are controlled
by local situations. Some indication of the practice, however, is
given by the use pattern in Shanghai, where 80 percent of the avail-
able power is used by industry, 15 percent by residential and
commercial consumers, and 5 percent by utilities and public transpor-
tation.
The labor force of the electric power industry is an insignificant
fraction of the total available labor force in China proper. The
requirement for technical supervision in the industry, however, is a
major problem. The Communist government considers most of the tech-
nicians who worked in the industry prior to 19+9 to be politically
unreliable, but does not have suitable replacements for them. The
USSR is furnishing the technical help needed in many of the new in-
stallations. The shortage of technically trained personnel for the
operation of existing facilities, while in no way crippling, does
reduce the present efficiency of operation. The large-scale tech-
nical education effort of the government should, by the end of the
1950's, do much to alleviate this condition.
At present the Chinese have extremely limited facilities for the
manufacture of large electrical equipment and parts required for the
industry. Although expansion of manufacturing facilities is now in
process and, within the next decade, should permit the manufacture of
a nominal amount of medium-size equipment, the larger equipment and
parts will probably still be available only as imports.
The principal source of new equipment has been the USSR. An
agreement of February 1950 covered the supply of capital equipment,
to be paid for by the Chinese with foodstuffs, textiles, and non-
ferrous metals. This agreement has been reviewed each year, new
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protocols being signed to cover the exchange of materials in the
current year. The only publicly announced protocol which covered
a specific category of facility was the one in February 1953 on
repair and expansion of power plants. In September 1953 a new all-
inclusive agreement was announced, covering 141 various industrial
projects, including all those started since 1949 and those planned
before 1959, for which the USSR was to furnish design, equipment,
and technical supervision of both erection and initial operation.
About 24 power plants were included among the 141 projects. In the
location of these new facilities, the major emphasis is on Northeast
China, where most of the projects being furnished by the USSR will
be located. Among the areas of China proper, only North China-is
scheduled to receive any significant number of new electric facili-
ties. This is to be expected as the Chinese attempt to follow
Communist theory and develop heavy industry first; it also coincides
with the location pattern favored by the USSR.
It is estimated that output of electric power in 1957 will be
5.6 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh), as compared with an output in 1953
of 4.1 billion kwh -- an annual rate of increase of about 8 percent.
The vulnerability of the electric power industry in China proper
lies in its geographical concentration in a few industrial centers in
the east and in its dependence upon imports for heavy machinery and
equipment for the production of electric power.
It is unlikely that the electric power industry in China proper
will be a significant factor in revealing military intentions. Vir-
tually any steps taken to increase production facilities could be
interpreted as an effort to provide adequate electric power for
industry in a peacetime economy.
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A. General.
In the existing state of industrial technology, electricity
is the only economically feasible source of power for industry in
Communist China. Although the cost of electric power is a minor
fraction of total production costs, electric power is indispensable
to most industries. The amount of electric power available limits
the number of production facilities which may be operated, and when
new facilities are completed, electric power must be available before
they can be used. The amount of electric power consumed is an indi-
cation of the general level of industrial output. Thus, a study of
the electric power available and the amount used in Communist China
is a valuable indication of the relative success of the Chinese Com-
munists in their efforts to increase their industrial output.
This report is concerned with that area of Communist China
which is south of the Great Wall.* That area, referred to in this re-
port as China proper, consists of North China, East China, Central
and South China, Southwest China, and Northwest China as established
by the present (1954) administrative and political organization. The
almost negligible electric power facilities of Suiyuan (Sui-yuan)
Province, which was transferred from North China to the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region early in 1954, are included with those of North
China. Chahar (Ch'a-ha-erh) Province, similarly transferred from
North China to Inner Mongolia, has no significant electric power
facilities, and Tibet has only one small power plant. Both areas,
therefore, are excluded.
The electric power industries of Northeast China and the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region (excluding Suiyan and Chahar Provinces),
which account for about half of the total electric power generating
capacity of Communist China, have been analyzed in another report.**
For purposes of reference, the term Manchuria -- historical name for
the Chinese territory north of the Great Wall -- is used in this re-
port to designate the Northeast China Area and the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region as they existed before 1949.
* See the map, China: Electric Power Stations, inside back cover.
* See CIA/RR PR-39, The Electric Power Industry in Manchuria, 27
November 1953. SECRET.
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The electric power industry in China proper is statistically
insignificant. The total installed capacity in 1953 was about equal
to that of the State of Arizona; in China proper there are more than
500 people for every person in Arizona. The capacity was about one-
twentieth that of the USSR and about one-eightieth that of the US.
The contribution of the electric power industry to the 1953 Gross
National Product in China proper was estimated at one two-hundred-
twentieth part of the total.
When the Chinese Communist government gained control of China
proper, there was a small base of modern industry, established only
about 50 years ago by foreign powers -- mostly in and near the Treaty
Ports.. Faced with a rapidly expanding population supported by a sub-
sistence-level agricultural economy, the government concluded that
only through the expansion of modern industry could an economic ad-
vance be made. That government is, therefore, trying to accumulate
the capital required for new industrial facilities.
B. History.
By 1936, there were in China proper 460 public utility plants
totaling approximately 635,000 kw and 158 industrial power plants
totaling approximately 2+2,000 kw. About one-half of the power-
operated industry was located in Shanghai and considerably more than
half in the Shanghai-Nanking (Nan-ching)-Hanchow (Hang-thou) tri-
angle. 1/*
Japan invaded China in July 1937, quickly occupying the
entire coastal region, which contained almost all of the electric
power facilities. The Nationalists, crowded back into the southwest
area of the country, applied their best efforts to an attempt to
provide electric power facilities for the arsenals and other industri-
al activities which they established. As a result of their activities,
by 19+5 they had a total installed capacity of 53,1+2 kw in the area
under their control. 2/
The Japanese were not concerned with the general industrial
development of China south of the Great Wall. Rather they were
concerned only with the facilities producing exportable commodities
* Footnote references in arabic numerals are to sources listed in
Appendix D.
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not in competition with those of Japan. Thus, in the period of their
control the power plants in North China which served the coal mines
were expanded, and the power facilities in Shanghai, which served pri-
marily the cotton mills, were never fully utilized.
C. Organization.
1. General.
The general economy of the country during the period of
Nationalist control from 1946 to 1949 was generally disjointed, the
Nationalists controlling the major centers of population and the
Communists interfering with transportation among these areas at will.
The. capacity and output figures published by the National Resources
Commission (NRC) for this period never reflected the total capacity
in the area, therefore, nor did they represent a reasonable output
from the controlled fraction of capacity, such as might be expected
under peaceful conditions. By the beginning of 1951 the Chinese
Communist government was established throughout the area of China
proper, and Chinese Communist government organizations had replaced
the Nationalist organizations in the control of mainland power plants.
With the defeat of the Japanese in 1945 the Chinese
Nationalist government returned the electric utilities to the groups
which had controlled them before the Japanese seizure, with the ex-
ception of those properties which resulted from Japanese investment
and certain other foreign properties, which were retained under the
control of the NRC. Thus when the Chinese Communists gradually assumed
control of the area during 1949-50, the electric power facilities were
in diverse hands. In general, equivalent Chinese Communist govern-
mental organizations replaced those of the Nationalists without
appreciably changing the pattern of control.
The Chinese Communist central government organ concerned
with electric power is the Ministry of Fuel Industry,* one of six
industrial ministries. Within this ministry is the Electric Power
Industry Bureau under Director Pao Kuo-pao. Other bureaus in the Fuel
Ministry control the coal and petroleum industries.
* The Minister is Ch'en Yu. Liu Lan-po, Vice Minister, gave the
report of the Ministry to the Government Administration Council
(GAC) on 7 January 1954. The other Vice Ministers, as of August
1953, were: Li Fan-yi, Li Jen-chun, Hsu Ta-pen, and Wu Te. 3/
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The Hydroelectric Construction Bureau of the Ministry of
Fuel Industry is under Director Li Jui. Its functions include the
large-scale construction of hydroelectric plants, the control and
utilization of water resources, the problem of the over-all opera-
tion of surveying work, and the general supervision of various sub-
ordinate hydroelectric organizations. 4/ It appears that as of 1954
the major activity of this bureau has been the collection of hydro-
electric survey data.
In January 1954 it was announced that along with a number
of other ministries the Ministry of Fuel Industry had organized its own
special construction force. 5/ In January 1953 the Ministry had es-
tablished a Design Bureau to draft designs for construction of electric
power plants under the Electric Power Industry Bureau. 6/
Information is not at all definite as to the line of control
down to various individual power plants. It would appear from press
releases that those plants resulting originally from municipal and
provincial investment are still controlled by the governments at these
levels. The various foreign plants were earlier expropriated under
the guise of military necessity and placed under military control
commissions. During the several years of Communist control it appears
that more and more of the electric utility facilities have been placed
under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Fuel Industry in
Peiping, with the subordinate governments exercising less supervision
than formerly. The following news release, in February 1953, is in-
teresting as a case in point: "To enhance the unified leadership of
the public and private power factories of Shanghai, the Shanghai
People's Government has, in compliance with the instructions of the
Central Ministry of Fuel Industry, amalgamated the local power ad-
ministration and the head office of the Military-controlled Shanghai
Power Company to form the Shanghai Electrical Industry Administration
Bureau." 7/
Those power plants which are operated primarily as a portion
of other industrial facilities probably come under the control of the
ministry responsible for the main industry. It appears, however,
that the Ministry of Fuel Industry exercises technical supervision and
requires reports from such plants.
With the expropriation of the French Power Company in Shang-
hai in November 1953, it would appear that almost all public utility
plants in China proper are now under direct control of government agencies.
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Some fraction of the power plants in other industrial installations,
however, is presumed to be still considered as private industry.
Regardless of nominal title to the facilities, there is little ques-
tion that the Central People's Government of Communist China (CPG)
exercises effective control over the operation of all electric
power plants in China proper and allocates the available power in
connection with its other economic plans. It may further be presumed
that it is the ultimate intention to centralize control of all major
power facilities under the Peiping government.
2. Planning.
One unique problem confronts those who operate a centrally
planned economy, the mechanism of planning itself. The First Five
Year Plan of China (1953-57) was not inaugurated until 1953. For the
Chinese Communists, then, the first problem was to establish a base
of statistical data from which they could accurately evaluate present
performance. For this purpose the State Statistical Bureau was es-
tablished late in 1952 and issued its first public report on 28 Septem-
ber. The government is still not satisfied with its statistical re-
porting methods. Witness the 5 September 1953 directive of the
Government Administrative Council relative to reporting methods; the
revised provisional regulations on reporting forms issued by the
Central People's Government State Statistics Bureau, 6 September
1953; and the official editorial criticism of chaos in investigative
and statistical work. 8/ In connection with this same activity, the
issuance in July 1953 by the Southwest Statistical Bureau of "Certain
Provisions Concerning the Unified Use of Statistical Figures" severely
limited even the internal dissemination of statistical data without
approval and coordination by the area bureau. 9/ The second All-China
Conference on Statistical Work was held by the National Statistics
Bureau of the Central People's Government at Peiping from 16 February
to 5 March 1954. The reports of the conference and the accompanying
editorials once again emphasized that the level of current achieve-
ment was not satisfactory and that further work was needed. It is of
interest that among these comments was the statement that it was not
currently possible to attempt complete reporting of enterprises in
which the state had no financial interest, and that these enterprises
should be reported by sample-investigation methods. 10/
Several releases late in 1953 are valuable as indications
of the level of advance planning generally achieved. 11/ The 195+
plans of individual enterprises were due for submission to higher
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authorities in December 1953. It was indicated that these plans
were to be in two parts, an annual plan and a first-quarter plan.
The individual enterprises were to proceed on the basis of their
first-quarter plans as soon as they were approved by their immediate
supervising authority, since it was hoped that the resulting
national plans, when finally established, would not represent too
great a change. Thus it would appear that a centrally ordained and
detailed plan has not been attempted, but central justification and
reconciliation of locally established plans has been accomplished.
Further, the national plan will not be established until well into
1954 and will still be subject to revision. With the 1954 plans
thus still in question, it is extremely doubtful that the Five Year
Plan goals have been established in other than the most general and
tentative terms.
Coal is considered to be the most valuable natural resource
of China. A major part of the. electric energy used in China is dew
rived from coal. An estimate of the total coal reserves in China
proper places them at 262 billion tons. 12/ The total amount of
coal mined in China proper in 1953 is estimated at about 25 million
tons. Certainly the availability of fuel reserves will not limit
any expansion of thermal electric power plants. The bulk of coal
reserves is concentrated in North China and Northwest China, but
small deposits are found in the other areas. The major mining
efforts have thus far been in North China, although small mines are
scattered quite generally throughout China proper. Reference to the
attached map will show this distribution of reserves and the loca-
tion of mines.*
B. Hydroelectric.
During the current century, a large number of surveys of the
power potentially available from the rivers of China proper have been
made. One Chinese Communist estimate was as follows 13/:
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Area
Potential
Power Resources
(Million Kilowatts)
Southwest China
97.2
Central and South China
18.5
Northwest China
17.4
East China
4.8
North China
4.8
142.7
This estimate has been identified elsewhere 14/ as the potential
available for half the year, but the potential available for 95
percent of the year, as limited by the seasonal variation in stream
flow, was estimated at only about half of the above total. Other
estimates vary widely, but even the lowest indicates a potential
many times the 1953 total of 1.3 million kw, composed of 1.5 percent
hydroelectric and 98.5 percent thermal electric capacity.
The Chinese Communist government early recognized the signif-
icance of this potential in its economic planning. Since the existing
economy is primarily agricultural, however, the main efforts have
thus far been directed at control of the rivers to prevent floods,
which have devastated large areas almost every year, and at providing
at least a minimum flow during the rest of the year to provide water
for irrigation. Thus far any hydroelectric plant construction in
China proper has been primarily ancillary to the river control efforts.
The Ministry of Water Conservancy, one of the top-level gov-
ernment ministries,* has primary responsiblity for this river control
work. A late 1953 summary 16/ of the work of this ministry included
the following: All major rivers, the Yellow (Huang Ho), Yangtze
(Chiang Chiang), Hwai (Huai Ho), Yungting (Yung-ting Ho), and the Pearl
(Chu Chiang) had their dykes overhauled and strengthened. On the Hwai
River the San-ho movable dam was completed. On the 'Y'ungting River
the 45-meter-high Kuan-ting dam was completed. Irrigation was the
major purpose of water conservancy; an area roughly the size of Belgium
was brought under irrigation. Dredging work and locks were reported
* Ministry of Water Conservancy: Minister, Fu Tso-yi; Vice Ministers,
Liu Pao-hua (Chao Chen-sheng), Chang Han-ying, and Ch'ien Cheng-ying. 15/
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to have greatly increased the usefulness of the waterways for the
transportation of goods. Finally, the summary noted that since the
hydroelectric power reserve of China was very important, surveying
work was being pushed intensively. An analysis of other reports
confirms the foregoing pattern of emphasis. The flood control and
irrigation work, insofar as they minimize the annual variation of
flow on the major rivers, will be of value to future hydroelectric
developments. The only indication of intentions is that major hydro-
electric developments will not be included in the First Five Year
Plan, but will be postponed for the indefinite future.
The Chinese Communists, in their plans for major hydroelectric
projects, must make allowance for the especially heavy silt burden
in their major rivers as they flow through populous areas where
electric power is required. The populous areas have been so long
denuded of natural vegetation that the runoff carries a burden of
silt unique in the world. In certain areas, irrigation dams fill to
their crests with sediment in a single season. It may be partly in
recognition of this problem that the Chinese have devoted major
efforts to reforestation and other techniques intended to control
the silt burden of their rivers well in advance of any major hydro-
electric projects.
III. Facilities.
A. Production.
.1. Geographical Distribution.
The concentration of electric power facilities in Shang-
hai and the other 'Treaty Ports where foreign nationals formerly had
extraterritorial rights is striking. About 25 percent of the
electric power generating capacity in China proper is located in
Shanghai alone, over 8 percent in Tientsin, over 5 percent in Tsingtao
(Ch'ing-tao), and over 4+ percent in Canton (Kuang-chou) (see Appendix
A). When six of the smaller Treaty Ports are included with these
major ports, the total accounts for about one-half of the entire ca-
pacity of China proper.
The accompanying map* shows the concentration of electric
power facilities in the eastern portion of China proper. The total
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in this pattern section, including the North China, East China, and
Central and South China areas, is 92 percent of the total for China
proper.
This pattern of concentration has resulted from the
foreign investment in areas close to the seaports and is not likely
to suffer drastic change in the next decade. Efficiency of opera-
tion of electric power facilities increases with size. The Chinese
Communists at first talked considerably about dispersing the Shanghai
industries through the rest of the country, but little was done about
it, very probably because electric power was not available elsewhere
for the industries. The Chinese are locating some new facilities
in the Northwest, but in the interest of getting immediate maximum
utilization from new equipment, much of what is available is going
into the existing industrial centers where electric power facilities
cannot meet existing demand.
Table 1* shows the distribution of electric power facil-
ities in China proper.
2. Technology.
The technology involved in electric power facilities is, in
general, common knowledge throughout the world. The Chinese Communists
are limited, however, by the obsolete and obsolescent character of most
of their electric power facilities, in taking full advantage of current
technology. The fact that almost all the facilities in the area are
over 10 years old and that half are over 20 years old means that their
operation cannot approach the efficiency of new equipment.
Frequent mention has been made of the fact that Soviet
practice is being followed in a new plant under erection in 195+ at
T'ai-.yuan, which is to be a combined heat and power station. Indi-
cations are that several other new plants will be of this type. The
intent is to generate at a central power plant most of the steam
required for heating and process uses in the area, generating the
steam at relatively high pressures and using it to operate a steam
turbine to generate electric power before it is used for heating and
other purposes. This kind of installation presents a number of
problems in the design and installation of the steam distribution
system. These problems have led US utilities to look without special
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