During The Period Of Republic China Association Of Jinan

Fermented and originated in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China, after the promulgation of Industrial and commercial trade association rules and Measures on Industrial and commercial trade association rules by Beijing government in1918trade Associations soon replaced the old guild organizations such as guild halls and chambers etc. and evolved into the main form of industrial and commercial organization in the period of the Republic of China covering each metropolis and small and medium-sized towns gradually. The first trade association-Jinan Commercial Port Transportation Association was established jointly by Yuelai Company and other businesses. Afterwards, different trade associations were founded successively.Corresponding to the intense reform of the political situation in Jinan in the period of the Republic of China, the development of Jinan Trade Association can be divided into five stages:Beijing government period, early period of Nanjing national government period, Japanese-occupied period, late period of Nanjing government and the socialism reform period. The organization system had been witnessing board system, commission system, chairman system and council system, which was closely related with the situation of Jinan. In organization and operation, Jinan Trade Association built membership system, capital-collecting system and a series of management systems which included election, term of office, rules of procedure and regulation. Thus Jinan Trade Association was more and more standardized and institutionalized and formed an open and complex operating mechanism.As the representative of the industry and commerce organizations in the self-established trading cities, Jinan Trade Association had its distinctive features apart from its general characteristics with other trade associations in the treaty port cities as Shanghai Hankou etc. In general, there were five characteristics, namely, its folk character in raising and using funds, democracy in its organization construction, high self-discipline, limitation of its power in self-management and tight supervision of the government. Analyzed by the standard set in the General Principles of Civil Law, it is self-evident that Jinan Trade Association was the folk organization with independent legal person status.Jinan Trade Association possessed various functions in every field of social life among which its economic function was the most important and played the dominant role. With maintaining the interests of the same trade and correcting business defects as it objective, Jinan Trade Association played an active part in mediating disputes of the same trade, standardizing business orders, surveying and releasing market Quotations, establishing a price evaluation mechanism,protecting interest of the same trade actively, participating in tackling economic problems. Besides Jinan Trade Association inherited and carried forward the tradition of charity from the old guild halls and chambers holding or participating in various social charity activities which helped develop cohesion of confidence of the same trade, build new businessman image. Thus to some extent, it also shared some social responsibilities for the government and became an important part in serving the same trade, assisting the government to realize economic functions and stabilizing the social order. Beyond one industry and commerce organization in business, Jinan Trade Association appealed and actively engaged in previous fighting against foreign aggressions for interests of the country and their own manifesting National spirit and patriotism of the industry and commerce organizations.As one industry and commerce organization in the period of the Republic of China, trade association was significant not only in maintaining the interests of the business and promoting its development but also in serving as the tool for the government to fulfill social economic management function. The government supervised tightly Jinan Trade Association no matter in Beijing government period or in Nanjing national government period. The relation between the government and Jinan Trade Association did not differ essentially from that between the feudal government and the old industry organizations as guild halls and chambers and so on.Especially after the foundation of Kuomintang government, tight supervision of the government was intensified by legislation, administration, jurisdiction and other means. In such political ecology, trade association relied on the government's approval to gain legality for it could hardly survive without the authorization of the government. The autonomy if Jinan Trade Association was extremely weak compared with that of the trade associations in the comparatively-developed port cities such as Shanghai and Hankou and so on. Actually, the so-called "autonomy" was the limited demise of the administrative power of the government.Modern social organizations were in complete open forms due to lots of factors such as political instability and imbalance of economic development and so on. On such an open organization platform, an enormous intertwined complicated and interdependent network was formed within different fields, regions and levels. During the Republic of China, there was openness as well among different industry and commerce organizations. Trade associations and guilds both inherited and sublated each other. Chamber of commerce and trade associations supported each other and served as the bridge between government and the industry while they also had conflicts. Different in fundamental interests, resistance and conflicts were unavoidable between trade associations and trade unions, however they sometimes made compromises. Among different trade associations were cooperation and disputes of realistic interests.In the period of the Republic of China, Jinan Trade Association abided by the voluntary principle in its establishment and self-raised and self-used the capitals. Its administration structure and activity mechanism became more and more institutionalized and standardized. And its legal status was more explicit and broke the limitations of regional closeness. Therefore, although developed in an inland self-established trading city, Jinan Trade Association was different essentially from the old and traditional industry organizations which overcame their closeness, exclusiveness and autocracy. Then it had the fundamental change and bore the characteristics of new "modern" industry and commerce organization. However it didn't possess the characteristics of high autonomy of the trade associations in other port cities because its development and operation were under close supervision of the government in many ways."Modernity" in organization and being tightly supervised were the existing pattern of the industry and commerce organizations in most cities in the period of the Republic of China, which was determined by Chinese history tradition and the unique political ecology in that time.