I导言1.上海作为中国中部商业门户的重要性已是众所周知,无需在报告中再赘叙,在此只作简要介绍。上海位于长江支流黄浦江畔,距离长江口只有几英里。受有利地理位置的保护,使其免受台风的严重危害,非常适合作为富饶而人口密集的长江流域的商贸集散港,由此向西可延伸到整个辽阔的中国。在长江三角洲不到5万平方英里的土地上,养活了超过 I. Introduction 1. The importance of Shanghai as a commercial gateway to Central China is well known and need not be recounted in the report. Only a brief introduction will be made here. Shanghai is located on the banks of the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, only a few miles from the Yangtze River estuary. Protected by favorable geographical location from the devastating impact of typhoons, it is ideally suited to serve as a commerce hub for the rich and densely populated Yangtze River, extending westward to the vast expanse of China. In less than 50,000 square miles of land in the Yangtze River Delta, feed more than