CHIAO-TSO

also spelled Ts'iao-tso, Pinyin Jiaozuo, or Ciaozuo, city in northern Honan sheng (province), China. It lies in the foothills at the southern end of the T'ai-hang Mountains, to the west of Hsin-hsiang, in a mining district. Since Sung times it has been known for its ceramics, which in recent times have been called Chiao-tso, or Hsiu-wu, ware. Its modern development has been almost entirely based on its rich coal deposits. The mining rights were originally obtained by an Anglo-Italian company in 1898. In the early 20th century a railway was constructed linking the mines at Chiao-tso with Hsin-hsiang on the Peking-Han-k'ou main line and beyond to Hua-hsien (Tao-k'ou) on the Wei River northeast of Hsin-hsiang. The syndicate that first developed the mines was later replaced by a Sino-British company, the Chung-fu Administration, which by 1937 was the second largest coal-mining concern in China. After 1949 the mines were extensively modernized and mechanized and by the early 1950s were producing more than half of Honan's total production. Chiao-tso is the second industrial city in Honan, being exceeded in capacity only by Lo-yang. Pop. (1990) 409,100.