The Research Of Jinan's Financial Industry Since The Late Qing Dynasty

Pawnshops, private banks and exchange banks were the main carriers of money market in the forepart of China, which bore the elementary functions of credit, money exchange and transfer in finance. Private banks, exchange banks and banks were referred to as the three dominant financial forces in modern china. Having given an enormous impetus to the development of China's economy in the semi-colonial , semi-feudal society, the disaggregation of traditional natural economy ,the origin and evolution of national industry in modern China, they occupied a very important place in international and domestic economic links and made significant contributions to Chinese social and economic development.In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty , private banks (entitled YINHAO in northern China) ,which were developed from coal mine and money storage on the side, came into being in Shanghai. During the reign of Kang Xi, there appeared Silver Table in Jinan and then totaled more than ten in the reign of Jia Qing. In the late Qing Dynasty ,private banks in Jinan developed very quickly into an independent trade especially in the middle reign of Guang Xu. Before 1912, the capital trade of the individuals in Jinan mainly relied on private banks. From 1912 to 1937, the development of Jinan's private banks fluctuated with the changes in society , politics and economy ,and took a general sliding trend. Before the breakout of Anti-Japanese War, there were only 28 banks left. Jinan 's private banks were small in scale and ranked at the bottom in this industry. Exchange banks started during the early reign of Dao Guang.Lutai Lei in Pingyao, Shanxi Province established RISHENGCHANG exchange bank, the primitive form of exchange banks industry. The exchange banks industry flourished from the late reign of Guang Xu to the 1911 Revolution , declined after the 1911 Revolution and finally stepped off the stage of history. The exchange banks in Shandong Province were chiefly from Shanxi gang. During the reign of Dao Guang, the exchange banks of the Shanxi gang began dealing with the money exchange . But according to the current indications, no matter it was official or individual's money transfer, it accounted for a low share of the overall trade in China. Till the late Qing Dynasty in Shandong Province, only four relatively developed cities in industry and commerce had branches of exchange banks, which are Jinan, Yantai, Zhoucun, Jinin. Pawnshops were usurious capital organizations developed from folk loan , which have had the history of more than 1000 years. They mainly traded in property mortgages, loans and sometimes accepted deposits. Jinan's pawnshops were divided into those of the government , individuals and the foreigners. They prospered because of the large profits. In the 1920s , the pawnshops in Shandong Province suffered a great loss due to excessive issues of paper money. Some were closed because of the war, some were burned by the warlords, some were driven out of business because of the heavy taxes. The Japanese pawnshops improved the occasion by controlling Jinan's market. In the late 1900s, Qing Dynasty suffered extremely serious financial reverses because of the huge indemnities and military expenditures . In order to improve the difficult situation, they did a lot of preparatory work with much ado. Finally, in 1897, China's first bank ,China's Tongshang Bank, was established in Shanghai. China's financial industry stepped into a new era. New banks started to appear in Jinan in late Qing Dynasty and developed very swiftly after 1912. From 1913 to 1936, there totaled 30 banks with the average capital of about a million yuan. From the composition of capital, the banks were run by the government , government together with individuals, individuals , and foreingers. In the 1930s, banks gradually took the place of the old financial institutions as the dominant ones. The links between banks and the capital of industry and commerce were on a rapid increase, which played a certain role in promoting Jinan's economic progress.From Late Qing Dynasty to the outbreak of Anti-Japanese War, Jinan's financial institutions were as follows: pawnshops which dealt with usury, private banks evolved from money exchange, exchange banks originally specializing in money exchange and transfer, and the transitional official bank, foreign bank and the bank of national bourgeoisie capital. They were different in the time of emergence , the length of existence, attributes, scales and the scope of business. Therefore they were not only independent and competitive with each other, but also complementary to one another, jointly meeting the financial demands of different walks of life. They served the economic progress and the people at various historical stages.