The Study On The Developmental History Of Iron And Steel Industry In Modern China (1840～1927)

Iron and steel industry is a special economic department. Until now, there is no thorough research on the historical development of Chinese iron and steel industry in modern times in academic circles. This dissertation focuses on the historical development of Chinese iron and steel industry during the period of 1840 to 1927, trying to reveal the path of its development and carrying out detailed discussion on why Chinese iron and steel industry failed to develop, and the general features and disadvantages of the development of iron and steel in each period of time, etc. What this dissertation investigates actually is the first cycle of Chinese iron and steel industry which is also the starting point for the full recognition of the centenary development of Chinese iron and steel industry.Shortly after the industrialization in China, iron and steel, which was the raw material of basic industry, gained the attention of government for its economic and strategic values. However, the traditional metallurgical industry could no longer meet the demands of the times and declined sharply. Under such circumstance, there appeared a voice for the establishment of the iron and steel industry. Since 1870s, Chinese iron and steel industry has begun its exploration. In 1871, the Forging Plant and Metal Rolling Plant belonged to Fuzhou Dockyard was established, which was the first iron and steel enterprise and marked the birth of Chinese iron and steel industry. However, this plant was only qualified for processing iron and steel, meanwhile, due to the factors of market, capital, etc., the plan of smelting iron and steel was never carried out. Likewise, other similar plans failed, too. As the representative of promoting development of iron and steel industry in the earlier stage of Westernization Movement, Li Hongzhang showed less interest in 1880s. Besides, many restrictions, such as unqualified natural resources, lack of capitals, the flaws of institution, and the limited demand of the market, etc., had seriously delayed the full development of Chinese iron and steel industry.After the Sino-Franch War, the improvement of military industry and the rise of railway construction, marking the progress of the development of Chinese industrialization, led to the rise of the demand for iron and steel which strongly promoted the development of iron and steel industry. Several iron and steel enterprises capable of smelting were established. Qingxi Iron Works was the first joint adventure in modern China. The scope and influence of Hanyang Iron Works made it represent the starting point of full development of Chinese iron and steel industry. However, those enterprises all had their inborn deficiency. Sheng Xuanhuai took over Hanyang Iron Works after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Being familiar with management of business, Sheng cooperated the development of iron and steel with the development of railway, bank and colliery, which was in accordance with the feature of highly-relatedness in the development of iron and steel industry. Meanwhile, he reformed and enlarged Hanyang Iron Works and promoted the establishment of Hanyeping Corporation, which achieved great accomplishments. The prosperity of Hanyeping Corporation in Late Qing Dynasty created the Era of Hanyeping in Chinese iron and steel industry. As a matter of fact, the formation of the Era of Hanyeping was the result of many factors, including the support from the government, the huge space of the market due to the construction of railway, the good use of Japanese capitals and personal influence of Sheng Xuanhuai. Unfortunately, the desirable situation was disrupted by the Revolution of 1911.After the foundation of the Republic of China, considering the experience of world economic development, iron and steel industry was appointed as the base industry by government, and the policy of developing iron and steel was formed. At the same time, influenced by favorable international market, government took a series of measures of regulation, but with few effects. All works of life in China also joined the development of iron and steel industry actively, which arose a great upsurge in the enlargement to iron and steel industry. However, the enlargement stimulated the lopsided development of Chinese iron and steel industry.When it entered 1920s, China was in turmoil, the environment for iron and steel industry was deteriorating. Hanyeping Corporation and other enterprises were forced to stop production one by one. Meanwhile, Japan took various measures to rob Chinese resources of iron and steel and finally established its position of control to Chinese iron and steel enterprises. Chinese iron and steel industry, therefore, declined quickly and finished its first cycle of development.