CHIANG-MEN

Pinyin Jiangmen, also called Kongmoon, city in central Kwangtung sheng (province), China. The city is situated on the west bank of the main channel of the Hsi River, at the southwest corner of the Canton Delta, some 45 miles (70 km) from Canton. It has excellent waterway communications and is the chief collecting centre and agricultural market for the coastal region west of Canton. Chiang-men was opened as a treaty port to foreign trade in 1904, but its development was stunted by the rapid growth of Canton and Hong Kong, as a result of which it suffered severely during the economic depression of the mid-1930s. In 1909 a railway-the first Chinese line entirely financed and constructed by the Chinese-was built from Chiang-men to Fo-shan. Chiang-men is also the focus of a highway network running into the western coastal region of Kwangtung. Although Chiang-men has remained predominantly a commercial centre, since the mid-1950s it has experienced some development of industry. A large sugar and chemical plant, initially built to make sugar and pulp, has been expanded to convert the wastes into chemicals, medicines, bricks, cement, yeast, alcohol, and a variety of other products. Pop. (1988 est.) 193,000.