Revisiting Hanyeping Company (1889–1908)

What is it about?

This paper examines China's first modern industrial cartel, the Hanyeping Company, to understand China's early industrialization and corporate history. From a firm-specific perspective, this pioneering trial by the Chinese scholar-bureaucrat elites turned out a failure largely because the firm failed to establish effective corporate governance. The archival evidence indicates that its institutional deficiency was also closely correlated with the over-stressing of the role of elites. The state-led pattern and top-down approach taken by those elites can also help explain its evolution. The lessons from this case study are useful for China's ongoing transitions today.

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Why is it important?

Modern China's early corporate history, within its industrialization history. Hanyeping was the largest iron and steel company in China that has become the largest iron producer today.

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