Maritime Customs, Finance and Open Port Markets Zones in Late Imperial China

Takeshi Hamashita

The term "national economy" lacks clarity in modern Chinese history. While China's modernization is often treated as a feature of the central government's economic policy, regional and local economic activities, and the involvement of foreign powers, were also central to the process. Four elements were central to the formation and functioning of China's modern economy - internal customs collections, maritime customs, foreign banks, and Chinese banks.

Takeshi Hamashita deals with this issue by examining China's coastal open ports and the economic networks associated with them, explaining the working of regional and local market zones by following the flows of merchandize and of the funds collected by customs' authorities. His approach provides insights into the financial crisis China faced between 1896 and 1910, when both foreign and domestic financiers confronted a crisis brought on by loans and indemnities owed to foreign countries following the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, the Boxer Uprising of 1900 and the republican revolution of 1912. It also helps explain the interregional relationship between Hong Kong and Singapore through overseas Chinese remittance network and the Chinese local banking networks centered on Shanghai, Renchuan and Kobe, and the role played by China's Maritime Customs in these arrangements.

Takeshi HAMASHITA is a Professor in Ryukoku University. A specialist on the Chinese economy and on Asian regional history, he has published widely on banking, the remittance system and intra-regional trade in East and Southeast Asia.

publication year: 2011
400 pages
ISBN: 978-9971-69-421-0  Paperback  US$34.00  S$42.00
ISBN: 978-9971-69-436-4  Hardback&n] US$45.00  S$58.00