Abstract:
The rise and growth of banking industry in the town of Beiwudu, a well-known business town in central China in the Qing Dynasty, was closely related with the prosperity of commerce there. The banking industry in the town then consisted mainly of two major types of business, exchange shops and pawnshops. The exchange shops there included not only Weishengchang, one of the wellknown in Shanxi but also exchange shops that had grown out of the local oilmaking industry. Apparently, the rise of banking industry in the town of Beiwudu coincided with the general way in which exchange shops, the organ of banking industry in ancient China, came into being. Moreover, the convenient water transport in central China helped promote development of urban banking industry and commerce in the Qing Dynasty.
