Russian Joint-Stock Companies and Trading Houses in Manchuria From the Late 19th to the Early 20th Century

Russian trading firms had already been operating in southeastern China by the second half of the nineteenth century. The Russian government’s development policy for the Far East, which was strongly advocated by the then minister of finance Sergei Witte, prompted construction of the Siberian railway line, one trunk of which was the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZD). This railroad was then instrumental in forming a free economic zone in Manchuria where Russia’s new economic model that supported entrepreneurship could be tested. However, the activities of the Russian colony in Manchuria were confined to the right of way of the KVZD and to certain cities of little commercial interest. As a result, the companies established to extract minerals and develop industry and trade remained relatively small in both their capitalization and financial results. However, economic development of this territory continued despite Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese war and stopped only after the First World War began. The final blow came when Russian businessmen were forced to liquidate their businesses. The trading houses and companies owned by Russian entrepreneurs gradually became property of Chinese, Japanese and European owners. This article gives an account of the operations of Russian joint-stock companies and trading houses established in Manchuria at the end of the nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth and indicates the role those firms played in the development of the region. The research analyzed archival sources from the Russian State Historical Archive (RSHA) and statistical reference works along with preRevolutionary and modern scholarly literature.

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