Shanghai’s Bund and Beyond: British Banks, Banknote Issuance, and Monetary Policy in China, 1842–1937

Description

As China emerges as a global powerhouse, this timely book examines its economic past and the shaping of its financial institutions. The first comparative study of foreign banking in prewar China, the book surveys the impact of British overseas bank notes on China's economy before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Focusing on the two leading British banks in the region, it assesses the favorable and unfavorable effects of the British presence in China, with particular emphasis on Shanghai, and traces instructive links between the changing political climate and banknote circulation volumes. Drawing on recently declassified archival materials, Niv Horesh revises previous assumptions about China's prewar economy, including the extent of foreign banknote circulation and the economic significance of the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925. Contents Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Part I 1 Introduction 2 The Sino-Foreign Financial Grid in Prewar Shanghai 3 The Chartered Bank and Its Note Issue Part II 4 HSBC and Its Note Issue in Shanghai, 1866–1925 5 HSBC and Its China Note Issue in the Late-Republican Era, 1925–1937 6 Conclusions Appendix: British Bank Note Circulation in Shanghai, 1881–1935 Notes Glossary References Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z