轮船航业,在中美近代经济关系史上居于令人瞩目的地位。一位美国经济学家曾经评论:“十九世纪七十年代以前,美国航业的重要,是美国参加中国国际贸易的显著特点,而且是美国其他事业所不可比拟的”。但是,这个“不可比拟的”事业在七十年代以后急剧衰落,直到第一次世界大战结束才重新崛起。而在七十年代以后,中国的轮船航运业则作为规 Shipping industry, in the history of modern economic relations between China and the United States living in a remarkable position. An American economist once commented: “Before the 1870s, the importance of U.S. aerospace industry was not only the salient features of U.S. involvement in China’s international trade, but also unparalleled in other U.S. operations.” However, this “unparalleled” cause declined dramatically after the 1970s and did not resume until the end of World War I. In the seventies, China’s shipping industry as a rule