Business Expansion And Structural Change In Pre War China

This book examines the relationship between business expansion and the structure of business in pre-war China through a careful and pioneering study of the enterprises of Liu Hongsheng during the 1920s and 1930s. Unlike previous studies that have concentrated on such conceptual discussions as ‘networks’ and the role of the state in Chinese economic and business history, this present work focuses on the institutional changes within Chinese business to critically delineate the major institutions in the working of Chinese-owned enterprises. Not only does it explore those institutions of Western origin, such as the company and modern banking, but also those of native tradition. Liu Hongsheng was one of the leaders of the Chinese business community in Shanghai from the 1910s to the early 1950s. Through the examination, utilizing a large number of previous unused archival materials, of the major lines of his businesses including coal-distribution, wharf operations, cement making, match-manufacturing, banking, and real estate, this study identifies the major institutional changes involved in the course of the expansion of the whole business before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In particular, the author argues that the ‘accounts office’ or ‘zhangfang’ was the core of the organization. This book will be of great interest to specialists and students of Chinese business and economic history. It also provides a base for comparative business and economic history, especially for those who are interested in comparing European and American businesses with the Chinese ones. Lastly, this book serves the interest of scholars and students of East Asian history, who will find in Liu’s story a substantial example of the creative institutional dimension of business in the Chinese diaspora. “Professor Chan has richly documented the fascinating business practices used by the Chinese capitalist Liu Hongsheng: his devious maneuvers as a comprador taking actions contrary to the wishes of his foreign employer; his jousting as chairman of the board with unruly Chinese shareholders in a limited liability company; his inventive accounting as a venture capitalist financing industrial enterprises. With a firm command of archival materials, Chan is able to reveal seldom seen inner workings of Chinese business.” —Sherman Cochran, Hu Shih Professor of Chinese History, Cornell University

This book examines the relationship between business expansion and the structure of business in pre-war China through a careful and pioneering study of the enterprises of Liu Hongsheng during the 1920s and 1930s. Unlike previous studies that have concentrated on such conceptual discussions as ‘networks’ and the role of the state in Chinese economic and business history, this present work focuses on the institutional changes within Chinese business to critically delineate the major institutions in the working of Chinese-owned enterprises. Not only does it explore those institutions of Western origin, such as the company and modern banking, but also those of native tradition. Liu Hongsheng was one of the leaders of the Chinese business community in Shanghai from the 1910s to the early 1950s. Through the examination, utilizing a large number of previous unused archival materials, of the major lines of his businesses including coal-distribution, wharf operations, cement making, match-manufacturing, banking, and real estate, this study identifies the major institutional changes involved in the course of the expansion of the whole business before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In particular, the author argues that the ‘accounts office’ or ‘zhangfang’ was the core of the organization. This book will be of great interest to specialists and students of Chinese business and economic history. It also provides a base for comparative business and economic history, especially for those who are interested in comparing European and American businesses with the Chinese ones. Lastly, this book serves the interest of scholars and students of East Asian history, who will find in Liu’s story a substantial example of the creative institutional dimension of business in the Chinese diaspora. “Professor Chan has richly documented the fascinating business practices used by the Chinese capitalist Liu Hongsheng: his devious maneuvers as a comprador taking actions contrary to the wishes of his foreign employer; his jousting as chairman of the board with unruly Chinese shareholders in a limited liability company; his inventive accounting as a venture capitalist financing industrial enterprises. With a firm command of archival materials, Chan is able to reveal seldom seen inner workings of Chinese business.” —Sherman Cochran, Hu Shih Professor of Chinese History, Cornell University

By tracing the history of Yudahua from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, this study analyzes a successful inland business model among textile companies in modern China. The steady growth of this enterprise relied primarily on its strategy to focus on low-end markets and to locate new mills in underdeveloped interior regions. This strategy further allowed the enterprise to pioneer industrialization in its host localities, demonstrating a major social and economic impact on the local societies. At the same time, Yudahua’s unique team leadership pattern—five leading families shared its ownership and management—made the business an atypical family firm and allowed relatively easy institutional departure from Chinese social networks and adoption of Western corporate hierarchy. Therefore, by the late 1940s, Yudahua had gradually developed into a fairly integrated business group with a unified management structure and routinized connections between its member mills, which differed noticeably from the loose alliances normally found in other early twentieth-century Chinese business conglomerates.

In recent years the phenomenal rise of the economies of China and India has led to a proliferation of academic studies. Much of the focus has been on economic performance, development strategies and the comparative advantage of the two economies. A comparative study of business as an agent of change has been lacking This volume brings together articles by leading scholars in the field of Chinese and Indian business who offer fresh perspectives on the historical antecedents of business in the two economies.

This study of the evolution of Chinese capitalism chronicles the Song family of North China under five successive authoritarian governments. Brett Sheehan shows both foreign and Chinese influences on private business, which, although closely linked to the state, was neither a handmaiden to authoritarianism nor a natural ally of democracy.

This book investigates entrepreneurial initiatives in the three largest economies of the world: China, Japan and the USA. It brings together historical, institutional, and ethnographic approaches and highlights entrepreneurial patterns that result from cultural, legal, and political forces that facilitate and constrain entrepreneurship.

Smuggling along the Chinese coast has been a thorn in the side of many regimes. From opium and weapons concealed aboard foreign steamships in the Qing dynasty to nylon stockings and wristwatches trafficked in the People’s Republic, contests between state and smuggler have exerted a surprising but crucial influence on the political economy of modern China. Seeking to consolidate domestic authority and confront foreign challenges, states introduced tighter regulations, higher taxes, and harsher enforcement. These interventions sparked widespread defiance, triggering further coercive measures. Smuggling simultaneously threatened the state’s power while inviting repression that strengthened its authority. Philip Thai chronicles the vicissitudes of smuggling in modern China—its practice, suppression, and significance—to demonstrate the intimate link between illicit coastal trade and the amplification of state power. China’s War on Smuggling shows that the fight against smuggling was not a simple law enforcement problem but rather an impetus to centralize authority and expand economic controls. The smuggling epidemic gave Chinese states pretext to define legal and illegal behavior, and the resulting constraints on consumption and movement remade everyday life for individuals, merchants, and communities. Drawing from varied sources such as legal cases, customs records, and popular press reports and including diverse perspectives from political leaders, frontline enforcers, organized traffickers, and petty runners, Thai uncovers how different regimes policed maritime trade and the unintended consequences their campaigns unleashed. China’s War on Smuggling traces how defiance and repression redefined state power, offering new insights into modern Chinese social, legal, and economic history.

A comprehensive survey of Chinese economic history from 1800 to the present from an international team of leading experts.