An Analysis of the Evolution of Japanese Zaibatsu Business Models in China during the Late Qing and the Republic of China

Youqing Wang

doi:10.47297/wspdecWSP2515-797304.20250904

PDF
Export
Share
Collection
Album

An Analysis of the Evolution of Japanese Zaibatsu Business Models in China during the Late Qing and the Republic of China

Volume 9, Issue 4

Views: 0 Downloads: 0

An Analysis of the Evolution of Japanese Zaibatsu Business Models in China during the Late Qing and the Republic of China
An Analysis of the Evolution of Japanese Zaibatsu Business Models in China during the Late Qing and the Republic of China
School of Marxism, Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang, Guizhou, China.
Vol. 9, Issue 4, Pages: 19-26(2025)
Published：21 April 2025
DOI：10.47297/wspdecWSP2515-797304.20250904
Accepted：

Scan QR Code

Wang Youqing.An Analysis of the Evolution of Japanese Zaibatsu Business Models in China during the Late Qing and the Republic of China[J].Development Economics of China,2025,09(04):19-26.
DOI：

Wang Youqing.An Analysis of the Evolution of Japanese Zaibatsu Business Models in China during the Late Qing and the Republic of China[J].Development Economics of China,2025,09(04):19-26. DOI： 10.47297/wspdecWSP2515-797304.20250904.

摘要

Abstract

This paper examines the business models of Japanese zaibatsu in China during the late Qing and Republican periods

analyzing how they circumvented Chinese government restrictions on foreign capital through comprador agency

Sino-Japanese joint ventures

loan control and investment infiltration. Initially

zaibatsu employed compradors familiar with Chinese commercial environments to establish trade networks

later training their own "China experts" to replace compradors and build independent marketing systems in treaty ports. Facing restrictions on establishing factories and operations in China's interior

zaibatsu used "Sino-Japanese joint ventures" to gain control over enterprises through capital infiltration

bypassing policy constraints. Additionally

they provided loans with stringent conditions to companies like Hanyeping and Chinese mining enterprises

securing control over resource industries through mortgages and exclusive sales agreements

even extending influence to critical sectors like railways and telecommunications. These models were institutional tools of Japan's economic aggression

serving both zaibatsu capital expansion and Japan's colonial policies. This study reveals the strategic evolution of zaibatsu operations in China and their profound impact on the Chinese economy

offering a historical perspective on Sino-Japanese economic relations during this period.

关键词

Keywords

references

Ya Xianhaoet al o., Materials on the History of Foreign Trade in Modern China , 1840 – 1895, Vol . 2 , Beijing : Zhonghua Book Company , 1962, pp. 1012 – 1013 .

Naito Hisahiro, Tianjin Five Days Record, in Jingu Manji : Tianjin in Japanese Eyes, Tianjin: Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House , 2015 , pp. 94 – 95 .

Che Zhenet al n., Materials on the History of Modern Chinese Industry , Vol . 1 , Beijing : Sanlian Bookstore , 1957 , pp. 325 – 326 .

Wang Chuifang, History of Foreign Merchants : Shanghai , 1843 –1956, Shanghai : Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press , 2007 , p. 31 .

Mitsui Bussan , Draft History of Mitsui Bussan Co. , Ltd. , 100 Years, Vol . 1 , Tokyo : Japan Business History Institute , 1979, p. 207 .

Sherman Cochran , The Third Path into Shanghai's Concessions : Japanese , Western , and Chinese Match Companies , 1895 – 1937, in Shanghai : Bridge to the World, Vol . 1 , Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press , 1989, p. 218 .

Yamamoto Jotaro Biography Compilation Committee, Biography of Yamamoto Jotaro, Tokyo : Yamamoto Jotaro Biography Compilation Committee , 1942 , pp. 117 – 118 .

Pan Siyue, Mitsui Bussan's Xiamen Branch, in Lujiang Chronicles : Selected Xiamen Historical Materials, Beijing: Central Literature Publishing House , 2004 , pp. 283 – 284 .

Mitsui Bussan , Draft History of Mitsui Bussan Co. , Ltd. , 100 Years, Vol . 1 , Tokyo : Japan Business History Institute , 1979, pp. 208 – 209 .

Sherman Cochran , The Third Path into Shanghai's Concessions : Japanese , Western , and Chinese Match Companies , 1895 – 1937, in Shanghai : Bridge to the World, Vol . 1 , Shanghai : Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press , 1989, p. 220 .

Mitsubishi Corporation , History of Mitsubishi Corporation , Vol . 1 , Tokyo : Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. , 1986 , pp. 233 – 234 .

Sun Yan , Mitsubishi Zaibatsu and War , Doctoral dissertation , Northeast Normal University , 2017 , p. 100 .

Toa Dobun Shoin , Complete Book of Chinese Economy , Vol . 12 , Tokyo : Toa Dobun Association Compilation Bureau , 1908 , p. 623 .

Yang Dajin, General History of Modern Chinese Industry, Shanghai : Shanghai Commercial Press , 1933 , p. 678 .

Li Tingjiang and Orito Koaki , The 1911 Revolution and Asia, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press , 2015 , p. 338 .

Zhang Yanshen, History of Japan's Invasion of China through So-Called Joint Ventures, Beijing : Sanlian Bookstore , 1985 , pp. 57 – 58 .

Tianjin Compilation Center, Figures of Japanese Militarist Invasion of China, Beijing : China Literature and History Press , 1994 , p. 116 .

JACAR (Asia Historical Materials Center) Ref . B 13080742900 , World War I Relations / China Section , Volume 10 (7- 1 - 8 -28_ 4 _ 010 ), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Archives.

Zhang Yanshen, History of Japan's Invasion of China through So-Called Joint Ventures, Beijing : Sanlian Bookstore , 1985 , pp. 94 – 95 .

Zhang Yanshen, History of Japan's Invasion of China through So-Called Joint Ventures, Beijing : Sanlian Bookstore , 1985 , p. 71 .

Toa Dobun Association , translated by Hu Xinian , Memoirs of China , Beijing : Commercial Press , 1959 , p. 451 .

Du Xuncheng, Japanese Investment in Modern China, Shanghai : Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press , 2018 , p. 122 .

Hu Ze, Political and Business Genius Sheng Xuanhuai, Beijing : Commercial Press , 2015 , p. 303 .

Chen Xulu , Hanyeping Company , Vol . 2 , Shanghai : Shanghai People's Publishing House , 1986 , pp. 542 , 546 .

Zhu Xun, History of Chinese Mining, Beijing : Geological Publishing House , 2010 , pp. 122 – 123 .

Zhang Yicheng, Outline of Modern Chinese Mining History, Beijing : Meteorological Press , 2012 , p. 62 .

Tian Fulong, Chronicle of Hunan's Modern Century, Changsha : Hunan People's Publishing House , 2009 , p. 197 .

Zhu Xun, History of Chinese Mining, Beijing : Geological Publishing House , 2010 , p. 123 .

Hunan Provincial Gazette Compilation Committee , Hunan General Chronicle , Vol . 1 , Changsha : Hunan People's Publishing House , 2007 , p. 472 .

Jiao Jianhua , Financial History of the Republic of China , Vol . 1 , Changsha : Hunan People's Publishing House , 2015 , pp. 337 – 339 , 351 .

Sakamoto Masako, Zaibatsu and Imperialism : Mitsui Bussan and China, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press , 2011 , pp. 130 – 131 .

Sakamoto Masako, Zaibatsu and Imperialism : Mitsui Bussan and China, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press , 2011 , p. 119 .

Mitsui Bussan, Hankou Branch Taisho 8th Year Branch Manager Meeting Materials, Tokyo : Mitsui Bussan , 1919 , pp. 26 , 24 .

Du Xuncheng, Japanese Investment in Modern China, Shanghai : Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press , 2018 , pp. 24 – 25 .

Mitsui Bussan, Fourth Branch Manager Meeting Minutes, Tokyo : Mitsui Bussan , 1916 , p. 88 .

Mitsui Bussan, Fifth Branch Manager Meeting Minutes, Tokyo : Mitsui Bussan , 1917 , p. 63 .

Higuchi Hiroshi , translated by Beijing Compilation Society , Japanese Investment in China , Beijing : Commercial Press , 1959 , pp. 169 , 266 , 237 .

Mantetsu Economic Research Association , Development and Collapse of Shandong's Commercial Economy , Mantetsu Economic Research Association , 1935 , p. 7 .

Zhuang Weimin and Liu Dake, Japanese Industrial and Commercial Capital and Modern Shandong, Beijing : Social Sciences Academic Press , 2005 , pp. 339 , 388 , 415 , 431 .

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰