The Financial Crisis Of 1873 And Foreign Trade In Shanghai

After the Opium War, the government of Qing Dynasty was forced to open five treaty ports to foreign trade. Shanghai expanded to be the largest foreign trade center as well as international financial center. The opening of Shanghai made it face the shocks of international market directly. When the international financial crisis took place in Europe in 1873, Shanghai was influenced with tight money market and a series of bankruptcy. It was also drawn into a financial crisis then. The government did nothing to save the market. The local merchants and financial institutions struggled to survive themselves actively, reforming trade arrangements and extending export goods items, etc.. The favorable effects showed that the market organizations in Shanghai still had certain vitality during the period of late Qing Dynasty.