Printing China's gold: The American bank note company and the customs gold units of 1930

In 1928, T.V. Soong headed the new Central Bank of China to pursue monetary reform, redeem bad debts, negotiate with Foreign powers in monetary matters, and increase customs revenue. The new Nanjing government, headed by Jiang Jishi (Chiang Kai-shek), his brother-in-law, realized the importance of close ties between government and banking through the 1930s and 1940s and involved the United States in their banking affairs.;This thesis investigates the activities of the Central Bank of China in the early twentieth century. Within the broad spectrum of banking, this work focuses on the issuance of certain bank notes by the Chinese government and the participation of an American printing company in that process. This study will also explore China's motivations and attempt to collect its customs revenues on a gold basis. Using newly discovered private archival material, it will further examine the issuance of Customs Gold Units in 1930. The result of this study will enrich readers about a unique Sino-American relationship between a domestic central bank and a foreign bank note printer against the larger economic relationship between the two countries and the world.