WEN-CHOU

also called Yung-chia, Pinyin Wenzhou, or Yongjia, city and port in southeastern Chekiang sheng (province), China. Wen-chou is situated on the south bank of the Ou River, some 19 miles (30 km) from its mouth. The estuary of the Ou River is much obstructed by small islands and mudbanks, but the port is accessible by ships of up to about 1,000 tons. The Ou provides the main transport artery for the mountainous southeastern section of Chekiang. The settlement was first given the name Wen-chou in AD 675. Wen-chou's port was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port in 1876, and for a while there was a considerable tea trade there; but the port never played a large part in foreign trade, and there was no foreign settlement. Wen-chou's trade again flourished during the war with Japan, when from 1937 to 1942 it was one of the few ports left in Chinese hands. Not until 1955 was sea transport along the Chekiang coast fully restored, after which Wen-chou rapidly recovered. By the early 1970s an important coastal traffic, closely linked with Shanghai, had grown up. Wen-chou's role as the port and chief collecting centre for southeastern Chekiang province has led to a large export trade in various foodstuffs, tea, jute, timber, paper, and alum from inland. Wen-chou itself has grown into a food-processing centre engaged in polishing rice, curing tea, making wine, extracting oils, processing meat, and preparing butter and milk products. It is also a centre of papermaking and exports large quantities of bricks and tiles. There are minor engineering works, mostly making farm machinery, and various traditional handicrafts. In 1984 Wen-chou was designated one of China's open cities in the new open-door policy inviting foreign investment. Pop. (1985 est.) 365,600.