History of Russian Entrepreneurship in China the First Half of the XX Century in the Mirror of Advertising

Abstract

The study is devoted to the history of Russian entrepreneurs in China in the first half of the twentieth century as it was reflected in the advertising of their business, placed mainly in local periodicals. During this period, Russian entrepreneurs achieved significant commercial success in many Chinese cities. The promotion of their products in the Chinese domestic market was largely the result of their skillful advertising activities. Advertising in Russian became especially widespread in China after the end of the Civil War in Russia. The most important centers of entrepreneurial and advertising activity of Russian entrepreneurs have become the Chinese cities of Harbin, Tianjin and Shanghai. Advertising activities reflect both the economic sphere of life of the Russian diaspora and the social needs of its representatives. In the course of studying the history of Russian entrepreneurship and advertising of business enterprises owned by immigrants from Russia, the authors repeatedly conducted field research in China, during which they studied former Russian commercial enterprises, often operating at the present time. Sources on the research topic also included documents in Russian and Chinese stored in museums and libraries in Heilongjiang province, Harbin and Shanghai.