When it comes to Pingyao, Shanxi Businessman and Exchange Shop are words that must be mentioned. Pingyao is one of the places where Shanxi Businessmen started their firms. Exchange shops, the early form of the modern bank firstly appeared there. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some exchange shops settled their headquarters in Shanxi and expanded sub branches outside Shanxi. As the development of commodity economy, drafts can be exchanged so that there was no need to transfer large quantity of silver coins.
In the fourth year during the Daoguang Era ( 1824 ), Rishengchang Exchange shops opened its business. Three years late, Rishengchang built its branches in Shandong, Henan, Liaoning, Jiangsu and other provinces. In the 1840s, the business of the Rishengchang Draft Bank had been expanded to Japan, Singapore, Russia and other countries. With the mode of Rishengchang, other exchange shops in Pingyao also had a quick development. There were for most twenty-two exchange shops in Pingyao which made the city once the national financial center. In the financial history of Modern China, Pingyao enjoys a very important and special statue.
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