Research On The Regional Autonomy Function Of Modern Chinese Chamber Of Commerce (1905-1928)

The Modern Suzhou Chamber of Commerce in China is a new type of merchant association established in accordance with the government decree of the late Qing Dynasty.It has independently formulated self-government regulations such as the regulations of the Chamber of Commerce and the statutes of commercial affairs,and conducts autonomous practices democratically such as member elections,internal deliberations,and rulings.These are the basis and the performance for the autonomy of chambers of commerce.The modern Suzhou Chamber of Commerce promotes the transformation of urban economy,politics,legal system and social life through a high degree of autonomy to protect commercial rights and interests.The modern autonomy of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce has continued to expand but it comes with many disadvantages.It uses "Region",the analysis tool to re-examine the extension of the autonomy of chambers of commerce by adopting the method of transforming research paradigm,making research more in-depth and thorough.They select the chambers of commerce in a certain area as the research object by use of "regional" analysis method,it enriches the concept connotation and extension of the chamber of commerce,and breaks through the thinking mode of opening up business intelligence and liaising with business and simple industry and commerce.The study of autonomous functions is placed under the overall environment of social development in Suzhou,so that the self-governing activities of the Chamber of Commerce,which were originally separated by the researchers,and the local autonomy movement,in which the Chamber of Commerce participated,are unified within the same category.Through the autonomy of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce,we can vividly grasp the history of the changes in the social structure of the modern Suzhou area,and that could enrich the historical data of the localization of the "public sphere" of local society and the historical process of the "civil society".The establishment and development process of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce was promoted by two important forces:the political leadership and the modern Suzhou merchants.The basises of it useful autonomy function are the ontological system of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce,the self-disciplined fund revenue and expenditure system and the more democratic internal power operation mechanism.The ontology system includes the allies,members,directors,and general associates in the internal vertical structure,and the external organization forms a network of chambers of associations with those branches.With the changes of modern social structure,the autonomy function of Suzhou Chamber of Commerce has expanded from the traditional social charity relief function to municipal construction and city sanitation,and then expanded to the intermediary agent function that contact the market to government's economic and gradually penetrated to assist in legislation and business.The functions of the legal system,such as the arbitral handling case,even have certain political participation and political influence functions.As the staged analysis of the vertical time evolution of the regional autonomy function of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce,some characteristics and limitations of the research on the autonomy function of the chamber of commerce different from the"comprehensive" analysis are proposed.And to sort out the economic,cultural and geographical reasons that affect its uniqueness,and hope to provide some useful enlightenment for the development of today's social organizations.