Elite and Official Interactive Movements toward Chambers of Commerce

Abstract

This chapter details the events leading to the emergence of chambers of commerce in the Lower Yangzi region. Increasing foreign economic aggression in the late nineteenth century prompted reformist officials to enlist elite merchant support by first establishing semiofficial enterprises, and bureaus of commerce later on. Although they depended on merchant capital, managerial skills, and social connections in such efforts, the Qing court and provincial officials still attempted to control these business institutions. In contrast, elite merchant investors and managers regarded official control as a threat to their profits and power, and responded with vocal protests and passive resistance, including the withdrawal of capital and support. As the court's political and financial crises intensified, competing officials had to allow elite merchants more control over these enterprises and bureaus of commerce. The official and elite interaction and subsequent relational change eventually led to the earliest emergence of Chinese chambers of commerce in the Lower Yangzi region.