Today in history——First stock exchange opened in China

On June 6, 1918, the Beijing Stock Exchange was opened, the first stock exchange founded by the Chinese themselves.

As early as 1892, Westerners set up the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and in 1906, the Shanghai Zongye Exchange was set up to engage in securities and goods trading. But it was only an exchange run by foreigners. At the end of Guangxu, Liang Qichao advocated the organization of a joint stock company in the nature of an exchange, but it was not approved. Later on, Yuan Zizhuang and others again campaigned for the establishment of a stock exchange.

In 1916, Sun Yat-sen, in order to raise funds for the revolution, together with Yu Qiaqing and others, petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to open an exchange in Shanghai, but the Beijing government refused to approve it on the pretext that securities and goods could not be traded at the same time. It was only after many efforts that the Beijing government finally agreed to allow the country to set up its own stock exchange.

The Beijing Stock Exchange was founded by Liang Shiyi, the former head of the Department of Communications, with a capital of 100,000 yuan, mainly dealing with bonds and stocks, and also doing foreign currency business. Two years later, the stock exchanges in Shanghai and other places were set up one after another.