Discussion On The Yongjia County Chamber Of Commerce

With the introduction of capitalism to China in the modern times, the chamber of commerce, as the representative of bourgeoisie grew and developed rapidly in China. Being the leading commercial town, Wenzhou established its chamber of commerce in the early of last century, which took an active part in all fields of the society such as economy, politics, culture and so on, and left a solid footprint in the modern history. By analyzing the development of the chamber of commerce in Yongjia County, this article tries to outline the trace of its development, and explores such aspects as its structure, relations with the government, roles in anti-Japanese campaigns, the influence to the social activities, and the impact on the economy, on the basis of existing information.According to the alteration of the political situation local policies, the development of the organization can be divided into two stages: the period of chamber of branches (1906-1912) and that of chamber of the county (1912-1949). At the first stage, the chamber of branches played a positive role in promoting local economy, coordinating the disputes in lines and relieving the society conflicts, which made them a leading organization. What it contributed most was that, along with its development, it cultivated the spirit of self-independence, autonomy and self- support. At the second stage, the government of ROC made a repetitive restructure and rectification and took an overall control of it, which sharply weakened the strength and the impact of the chamber. But the chamber of commerce in Yongjia County stuck to the independent spirit as possible as it can and avoided becoming a tool that was completely obedient to the government and that government control society with when it played as the medium between and government and the people. After the reorganization, the chamber of commerce in Yongjia County continued to advocate new thoughts, played a positive role in leading the local economy and contributed much to the important historical events like 5.4 campaign, anti-Japanese War, etc.